Overview

Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) were introduced in 2014 as part of a broad range of powers and tools to help tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB) locally. PSPOs aim to make sure public spaces can be enjoyed free from anti-social behaviour.

PSPOs are wide-ranging and flexible powers for local authorities, which recognise that we are often best placed to identify the broad and cumulative impact that ASB can have. The Act gives us the authority to draft and implement PSPOs in response to the particular issues affecting their communities, provided certain criteria and legal tests are met.

We can use PSPOs to:

  • prohibit specified activities
  • require certain things to be done by people engaged in particular activities, within a defined public area

PSPOs differ from other tools introduced under the Act as they are council-led, and rather than targeting specific individuals or properties, they focus on the identified problem behaviour in a specific location.

PSPOs last for a maximum of three years.