page_title: Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014
section_title: Public spaces protection orders
hierarchical_section_title: Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 / Consolidation / Public spaces protection orders
caption_attribution_description: English: Public Spaces Protection Order sign in Knightsbridge
context_page_description: The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that consolidated and expanded law enforcement powers in addressing anti-social behaviour. One significant aspect of the act is that it replaced anti-social behaviour orders, the primary civil order in the United Kingdom since 1998, with criminal behaviour orders.
context_section_description: A public spaces protection order (PSPO) is an order which bans specific acts in a designated geographical area in England and Wales as set out in the act. It replaces the earlier designated public place orders, gating orders and dog control orders.
  PSPOs are intended to prevent specific acts which would not otherwise be criminal offences. They have been criticised as restricting freedoms and having a disproportionately severe effect on people below the poverty line. As of December 2017, there were 388 active PSPOs in Wales alone.
  Research by The Manifesto Club found a 420% increase in PSPO fines from 2016 to 2018. In 2018 there were 9,930 fines issued, 60% of which were from four councils: Peterborough, Bedford, Hillingdon and Waltham Forest. These four councils use private contractors to issue the fines.
  Examples include:
  Hackney Council attempted to introduce a PSPO which would have banned rough sleeping. A similar ban was proposed in Newport.
  Salford City Council introduced a PSPO covering Salford Quays, which bans acts including using foul and abusive language.  This has been interpreted as a response to football fans.
  Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea introduced a PSPO "to address the excessive level of noise nuisance, annoyance, danger or risk or harm or injury caused by motor vehicles to members of the public" in Knightsbridge.
  Peterborough City Council introduced a PSPO to ban littering, spitting and cycling in specific roads in the centre of Peterborough.
  Kettering Borough Council enacted a curfew banning individuals under 18 from going outside alone between 11pm and 6am.
caption: PSPO warning sign in Knightsbridge, London
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