Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of recent trends in levels of fixed penalty notices for Public Spaces Protection Orders that are issued by private enforcement companies outsourced from local government; and whether guidance has been provided on such contacts which (a) reward companies for increasing numbers of fines and (b) profit share revenue from fines.

The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides the police, local authorities and other local agencies with a range of tools and powers they can use to respond to anti-social behaviour (ASB), including the Public Spaces Protection Order.

The powers in the 2014 Act are deliberately flexible in nature, and it is for local agencies to determine whether their use is appropriate in the specific circumstances of each individual case.

Contracting enforcement to third parties is a common arrangement and it is for the local authority to ensure use of powers remains just and proportionate. Contractors are bound by the same legal obligations, and the same safeguards in legislation, as councils themselves. Local authorities are also obliged to follow the rules set out in the Public Contract Regulations 2015 in appointment of such companies.