Cabinet will be asked to approve of the Public Space Protection (Romford Town Centre) Order No.1 of 2017.

The Cabinet Member for Environment and Community Safety introduced the report.

By way of background, Cabinet was informed that Romford Town Centre is currently subject to a Drinks Banning Order.  It was noted that this tool for tackling anti-social behaviour has been superseded by the Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) within the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

It was reported that the Drinks Banning Order was due to expire on 20 October 2017.  As such, the Council is seeking to replace the current Drinks Banning Order with a Public Space Protection Order in order to continue to control alcohol related anti-social behaviour within Romford town centre. Additionally, the Council is seeking to expand the area subject to the control, so that it encompasses Oaklands Avenue to the north, Junction Road to the east, Valley Way to the south and Nursery Walk to the west.

Between March and May 2017 a public consultation exercise was conducted in accordance with s.64 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.  As part of the consultation, comments and evidence were collated from key partners and stakeholders including the Police, local residents and retailers.

According to the report, there was evidence that the existing Drinks Banning Order has been useful as an additional tool in controlling alcohol related nuisance within Romford town centre, it is also evident (particularly from data supplied by the Metropolitan Police Service setting out alcohol related nuisance occurring within Romford town centre between January 2014 and October 2016) that there remains a high level of anti-social behaviour connected with alcohol consumption within the town centre area.

It was reported that several substantive and significant objections to elements of the proposal had been lodged through the consultation, so further legal advice was obtained and a further evidence review conducted. This concluded that the evidence currently available to support some of the conditions was not sufficiently robust and that, in many cases, existing legislation and tools, such as Community Protection Notices (CPNs) and licensing schemes and conditions, were already available to tackle the related behaviours and offences. As such, the proposed PSPO was amended to limit its remit and to focus specifically on tackling alcohol related nuisance with the town centre.

Cabinet approved the proposed Romford Town Centre Public Space Protection Order which contains the following conditions:

•           Persons must not be in possession of an open container of alcohol in a public place within the Alcohol Control Area (save on licensed premises), and

•           Persons must not consume alcohol in a public place within the Alcohol Control Area (save on licensed premises).

Reasons for the decision:

Romford Town Centre has a vibrant and busy daytime and night-time economy with many licenced premises within the town centre selling alcohol and alcohol related products to local residents, businesses, members of the public and visitors.

Previously, alcohol related nuisance was dealt with under the Romford Town Centre Drinks Banning Order, which covers a smaller area of the town centre and is due to lapse on 20th October 2017 in accordance with the succession of legislation within the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, of which the Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) is part.  With the introduction of the Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) legislation, the Police and other partners of the local authority wish to maintain methods of enforcement for alcohol related nuisance in the town centre, by way of a fixed penalty. It was also felt that the area covered should be expanded to include local retail parks and Queen’s Hospital which also suffer from alcohol related nuisance.

With the above in mind, the Council sought to introduce a PSPO for Romford town centre, to supersede the outgoing Drinks Banning Order and provide continued methods of controlling alcohol related nuisance in Romford town centre.

Other options considered:

Consideration was given to not implementing a Public Space Protection Order, however failure to replace the existing Drinks Banning Order could lead to an increase in alcohol related crime and anti-social behaviour in the town centre, so this option was discounted.

Consideration was also given to implementing a broader PSPO, with a wider range of restrictions, however it was concluded that the evidence currently available to support some of the potential conditions was not sufficiently robust and that, in many cases, existing legislation and tools were already available to tackle the related behaviours and offences.  The risk of legal challenge was consequently advised to be very high in respect of certain aspects of the original proposal.  Whilst it is therefore not recommended to include these within the PSPO at this stage, a Member / officer subgroup of the Strategic Enforcement Board (SEB) is to be convened to determine how best to tackle each of the areas of concern that were the subject of the initial consultation but which have not been included in the proposed PSPO as they are able to be dealt with under alternative legislation.  The findings and recommendations of the subgroup will be the subject of further reports in due course.