Agenda and minutes

No declarations of interest were received.

Francesca Bell, Public Protection, Anti-Social Behaviour and Licensing Service Manager

a.    presented the proposals to review the existing Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) in the City Centre area of Lincoln.

b.    referred to paragraph 2 of the report and gave an overview of the background to the PSPO advising that it was a requirement to review the PSPO after 3 years.

c.    advised that the purpose of the review was to consider the following points:

·         Should the requirement not to consume alcohol remain as part of the PSPO.

·         Should the requirement not to ingest, inhale, smoke or otherwise use intoxicating substances remain as part of the PSPO.

·         Were there any other issues that could be considered for inconclusion in the PSPO?

·         Was the area designated by the PSPO still appropriate?

d.    referred to paragraph 5 of the report and gave an overview of the public and partner consultation advising that seven responses had been received and all responses called for the existing PSPO to remain in place.

e.    referred to paragraph 6 of the report which detailed the evidence of the enforcement of the PSPO since 2015 and highlighted the number of issues relating to alcohol and legal highs.

f.     advised that whilst there had been an increase in the reporting of begging and vagrancy it was felt that it should not be included in the PSPO for the following reasons:

·         The Council and its partners had a well mapped enforcement plan in place already.

·         Begging was already a criminal offence and could be dealt with more appropriately in that way.

·         Any inclusion in a PSPO could send a message that begging outside of that area was acceptable.

·         All local authorities across the UK that had gone down this route had faced enormous public backlash in respect of human rights.

g.    referred to appendix 3 of the report and advised that following consultation with partners it was felt that the geographical area of the map should remain the same, however, the map had been amended slightly to reflect the new road layout at the bus station and also to make the boundary clearer and more easily defined.

h.    advised that members would need to be satisfied that the legal conditions set out in paragraph 9 of the report had been met.

i.      referred to paragraph 12 of the report and explained the penalties for breaching the order and powers available to officers to deal with those identified as persistently breaching the order.

j.      referred to paragraph 15 of the report and outlined the options explored and the key risks associated with the preferred approach.

k.    invited members questions and comments

Question – What work had been done to tackle begging?

Response from Lincolnshire Police – There had been a multi-agency approach to tackle begging, in the longer term the aim was to enforce begging but also to provide support to help with wider issues.

Question – Had the multi-agency approach been successful?

Response – It was a relatively new approach  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.