Agenda item

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods seeking to provide a review of the use of Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) across the City and outline future actions, with regard to current legislation and government guidance, following a review of the use of Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) in the past year.

RESOLVED that:

(1)            generally, PSPOs are not required to be brought to Cabinet or Council for approval or amendment unless there are exceptional circumstances. Delegation has already been agreed by full Council in 2018 that the Head of Communities and Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods have authority to sign off on PSPOs

(2)            City wide restrictions currently in place to deal with alcohol and dog related nuisance will be renewed for a further 3 years

(3)            the suitability of standalone PSPOs or other means of resolution are considered as appropriate for other nuisance issues raised to the City Council, and delegations as above are used to implement any new measures

(4)            Cabinet continue to endorse the Council’s “engage, support, enforce” approach as its primary means of dealing with street-based nuisance, with PSPOs used as a supporting tool.

Cabinet considered the report of the Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods that sought to provide a review of the use of Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) across the city and outlined future actions, with regard to current legislation and government guidance, following a review of the use of Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) in the past year.

The Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods stated that it was important to review the progress of the PSPOs three years since their introduction and further review them three years hence in the spirit of transparency.  She advised Members that the PSPOs had proved to be a successful tool for partner organisations to do great work and helped drive up standards of behaviour in the city.  The Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods commented on the particular success tackling the consumption of alcohol in public places where the PSPOs provided the opportunity to engage with people and understand underlying issues to improve their lives.  She further expressed the hope that this holistic approach of engagement and support to help people as well as their behaviour would be continued and extended as issues such as street drinking in Kingsholm and fake charity collectors are addressed.  The Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods thanked Members for their support, Councillors of all parties and especially the Community Wellbeing Team Leader who had been pivotal in progressing this work for the benefit of all residents.

The Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure reiterated that although the introduction of PSPOs had been a bold move they had proven themselves by making Gloucester a better place.  The Cabinet Member for Economic Recovery and Growth informed Members of her own experience of their success in Westgate.  She made it clear that this was attributed to the holistic approach of listening to communities and engaging with people suffering complex problems in order to support them.  The Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Strategy commented that both the report and the Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods epitomised the words of the maxim: some see things as they are and say why whereas others see what they ought to be and say why not.

RESOLVED that:

(1)           generally, PSPOs are not required to be brought to Cabinet or Council for approval or amendment unless there are exceptional circumstances. Delegation has already been agreed by full Council in 2018 that the Head of Communities and Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods have authority to sign off on PSPOs

(2)           City wide restrictions currently in place to deal with alcohol and dog related nuisance will be renewed for a further 3 years

(3)           the suitability of standalone PSPOs or other means of resolution are considered as appropriate for other nuisance issues raised to the City Council, and delegations as above are used to implement any new measures

(4)           Cabinet continue to endorse the Council’s “engage, support, enforce” approach as its primary means of dealing with street-based nuisance, with PSPOs used as a supporting tool.