Council fines for ‘busybody offences’ rise amid crackdown on tree climbing and begging

Behaviours that attracted penalties included gathering outside abortion clinics and begging

PSPOs let councils ban anything that upsets 'quality of life' (AFP/Getty)

A record number of fines for “busybody offences” were issued in England and Wales last year, as councils cracked down on activities such as feeding birds, climbing trees, or napping in public.

These on-the-spot fines were issued for violating a Public Spaces Protection Order, which gives local authorities the power to ban activities carried out in a public place if a council official determines they “have had a detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality” – or that it is likely these activities will have such an effect.

A report by Manifesto Club, campaigning against “hyper-regulation” in public spaces, found the number of PSPO fines issued in 2022 had increased by 30 per cent in three years – from 10,412 in 2019 to 13,433 in 2022.

The group’s director Josie Appleton noted the rise in penalties was because councils had imposed “thousands of petty restrictions on almost any conceivable activity in public spaces”.

Offences that attracted these £100 penalties included shouting, banned by four councils, and playing ball games, also banned by four councils.

Seven councils prohibited busking, five clamped down on gathering outside abortion clinics, and there were 11 restrictions on charity collection.

Climbing trees or structures attracted fines in three councils, rough sleeping or sleeping in a vehicle was banned by seven councils and over 50 councils had a PSPO prohibiting begging. Ms Appleton said imposing fines on homeless people for “begging is as perverse as it is heartless” calling for these “blank cheque” powers to be revoked.

The Local Government Association in a statement to The Guardian said PSPOs are a safeguard against behaviours such as public drinking or aggressive begging that “can ruin people’s quality of life, harm businesses or mean people are scared to visit public places”.

It added that these orders are “subject to scrutiny” and are not “suitable or effective in all circumstances”.

This data was obtained by the Manifesto Club under the Freedom of Information act, and showed that over 150 councils had issued at least one penalty last year. Of 303 councils that responded to the requests, 266 said they currently had a PSPO in place.

Only 10 per cent of councils said they had never imposed such an order.