Sheffield City Council consultation on order banning begging, loitering in city centre goes live online

The consultation over a draft public order banning begging and loitering from Sheffield city centre has been launched exclusively online by the council.

If it passes, the draft Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) will impose five "conditions of use" on the city centre and will provide local enforcement with more powers to "deal with... particular nuisance or problem" behaviours in the area.

Councillor Richard Williams, chair of the communities, parks and leisure committee at Sheffield City Council, said: “This stage of the process is about asking people what they think, whether they think we need a PSPO in the city or whether we don’t. They can tell us what parts of the PSPO they like or don’t like, and they can make suggestions about what the Council should do to make sure we get this right for Sheffield."

"That’s the most important thing here, that we listen, take feedback and we make the right decision based on the consultation results. We hope that people take the time to have their say on this so that we get a broad range of views and suggestions.”

The draft PSPO was approved by the communities, parks and leisure committee at the end of January, and could set out five conditions of use over the city centre including street drinking, begging, loitering, drug use and urination and/or defacation.

Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham all have PSPOs in place, with Barnsley's dating back to 2016. Rotherham implemented its order in 2017 and was extended last year.

However, according to the BBC, 70 per cent of respondents did not think the order had helped - though renewing the order was supported by 58 per cent.

The consultation on the Sheffield city centre PSPO is now live on their council's Have Your Say website. A council spokesperson told The Star last week the consultation is "expected" to only be online.

In a release, Sheffield City Council said the consultation period will run from February 9 to March 25 and "everyone is invited to have their say".

In the council report published before the consultation was approved, officers acknowledged there is a risk that the problem behaviours could then be pushed out into nearby areas like Kelham, Burngreave, Little Sheffield and Ecclesall Road - areas the council is "already aware" are dealing with anti-social behaviour issues of their own.

It said that the proposal has been brought forward because current powers “are limited to tackling the behaviour of identified individuals, businesses or organisations”. It said that evidence had been gathered from stakeholders and partners, including the police and city centre businesses, to identify what the problems are.

The survey showed that 71 out of 97 businesses that replied said that anti-social behaviour has increased, with 79 seeing it on a daily basis.

The local authority must also take extra care to ensure the order does not "disproportionately affect vulnerable members of the community" and should "not be used to target a specific group or individual".

In the committee meeting on January 29, 2024, local democracy campaigner Ruth Hubbard opposed the move.

She was concerned the powers would be too wide-ranging. She asked: “Is a group of students sitting in a green space having a can of beer at the end of an exam a problem?

“And where is the evidence that passive begging affects the quality of life of the more fortunate majority? Do we really want to stop a child who has lost their bus fare asking passers-by if they can help?”

She also objected to “airbrushing or cleansing” public spaces of people who struggle to or do not want to conform during a cost-of-living crisis.

Coun Janet Ridler, the Labour Party spokesperson on the committee, said: “I think it’s clear from this very extensive and thorough report that an issue has been raised by more than one agency of persistent anti-social behaviour that’s been perceived to be threatening.

“It affects businesses and visitors etc who can expect to feel comfortable. It’s entirely reasonable that this proposal on how to deal with this is put to public consultation.”