New bill looks to reduce anti-social behaviour

New bill aims to deal with so-called 'yob culture'

by Philip Henson of thePublican.com's legal team of experts from London solictors Joelson Wilson​

You will no doubt have read about the recent Home Office bill, which was published in March and which is intended, when it becomes law, to reduce anti-social behaviour. The aim of the proposed new legislation will be to introduce tougher measures to deal with so-called "yob culture" and to support communities and businesses in the war against what is termed "environmental crime".

The proposals set out the government's next steps for dealing with anti-social behaviour.

The bill covers a wide area, including proposals to deal with the abusive use of fireworks, replica guns and also to reduce graffiti, fly-tipping, fly-posting and kerb crawling.

The legislation will, it is claimed, build on the successful measures that have been introduced by the government since 1997 to protect the community and to tackle crime. Notably, these measures have included recruiting more police officers, support staff, community support officers and the introduction of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders and Fixed Penalty Notices. The government claims that since 1997, overall crime has fallen by more than a quarter, with violent crime dropping by 26 per cent.

Most notably for the industry, the bill provides statistical evidence that 25 per cent of regular drinkers and 60 per cent of binge-drinkers have been involved in criminal and/or disorderly behaviour during or after drinking.

Quoted statistics also indicate that around 25 per cent of all incidents of violence between strangers occur in pubs and clubs on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night.

Given these statistics, it is not surprising the pub trade will be targeted by the proposed legislation, in combination with the government's National Harm Reduction Strategy and the new crime prevention objectives to be introduced through the Licensing Bill when it becomes law.

One positive aspect of the bill is that it recognises that flexible licensing hours lead to less binge-drinking and that staggered closing times significantly reduce "peak" disturbance and disorder. It will be a useful document to quote from when applications are made under the new legislation to extend the hours of operation of premises licences.

Some of the major new measures to be introduced in the proposed legislation include:

• facilitating the issue by local authorities of fixed penalty notices for people making excessive noise at night
• Environmental Health Officers will be able to shut down establishments creating a noise nuisance with immediate effect
• new powers will be given to police to issue notices of impending closure on properties where class A drugs are being sold and used
• new local authority powers will be introduced to tackle fly-tipping
• local authorities will be encouraged to introduce designated areas where the consumption of alcohol will not be allowed.

These measures will sit alongside the other measures to be introduced by the Licensing Bill to address anti-social behaviour. These include:

• the ability for a licensing authority to reject an application for a new premises licence where the build-up of licensed premises in a particular area is leading to disorder problems.

What a wonderful world it will be if the government proposals lead to a major reduction in anti-social behaviour. It is easy to be cynical and to point out that there is no mention in the bill of when the proposed legislation will be introduced.

The bill is a positively written document that will give voters confidence that new legislation is on the way to reduce crime, without any changes actually taking place.

However, it does draw together local strategies that have been successful in various parts of the country to reduce crime. Its success will rely on whether the proposals are transformed from government "spin" into effective legislation.