Statutory guidance for frontline professionals updated

The guidance was first published in 2014 and relates to the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 (ASBCPA), which provides police, local authorities and social housing providers with a range of tools and powers to respond quickly to anti-social behaviour (ASB) and to ensure victims have a say in the way that complaints are dealt with.

The guidance has been revised on several occasions since its publication. The most recent version which was published in June 2022 saw the introduction of Expedited Public Space Protection Orders (EPSPO). EPSPOs were introduced under section 82 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, and are intended to protect the public from harm that may be caused by some protests in the vicinity of schools and sites providing NHS vaccination services.

Given that EPSPOs restrict an individual's right to protest, the restrictions imposed must focus on specific and persistent activities that are having a detrimental effect on those working at or using such sites. A local authority must be satisfied on reasonable grounds that the three conditions set out in sections 59A(2) to (4) of the ASBCPA are satisfied before making an EPSPO and should not be used as a tool to deal with wider anti-social behaviour or to stop non-disruptive or non-harmful protests.

To read the document in full please use the link below:

Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act: anti-social behaviour - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)