"CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND POLICE ACT 2001

Alcohol Consumption in Designated Public Places Order No: of 2003

The Hackney Borough Council (in this Order called “the council”) hereby make the following Order under Section 13(2) of the Criminal Justice and Police Act: 2001.

SCHEDULE

These areas are:

1. “Hackney Town Hall area” being the Hackney Town Hall square; Reading Lane between its junctions with Mare St. and Hillman St.; Wilton Way between its junctions with Mare St. and Hillman St. and Mare St. between its junctions with Paragon Rd. and Wilton Way.

2. “St. John's Churchyard area” being the Churchyard of St.John of Hackney Parish Church, Lower Clapton; Mare St. between its junctions with Amhurst Rd and Dalston Lane Rd (commonly known as The Narrow Way); Churchwell Path (running from Morning Lane to Lower Clapton Rd) through the junctions of Sutton Place, Rowe Lane, St.Johns Church Rd, Mahetabel Rd and Isabel Rd.

3. “Clapton Square” being the land and surrounding road known as Clapton Square, and Lower Clapton Rd between its junctions with the West and East sides of Clapton Square.

The effect of the order would be:

A detailed report on the consultation is attached. (Appendix 2)

Councillor Julius Nkafu Crime and Community Safety

Bernard Clarke Director Community and Leisure

Martin Davis Head of Safer Communities Services

Report Originating Officers: Sule Kangulec 020-8356 2070

Financial considerations: Karen Balam

Monitoring officer comments: [insert name]

Background papers

The following documents have been relied upon in the preparation of this report:

Introduction

One of the key priorities for crime and disorder reduction in Hackney is to reduce anti social behaviour. Although much anti social behaviour appears as low level disorder it is clearly identified as a gateway to other, more serious, crimes and also a significant contributor to the fear of crime.

There are various definitions of what constitutes Anti Social Behaviour. In a general sense anti social behaviour can be described as:

“Behaviour that unreasonably interferes with other people's rights to the use and enjoyment of their home and their community”

This kind of anti-social behaviour and disorder covers a wide range of activities, including vandalism and graffiti, noise nuisance, abandoned vehicles, prostitution, disorder, public drunkenness, disputes and disturbances, begging and illicit street trading.

There is continuing work to reduce anti social behaviour in Hackney led by the Local Authority and the police. As part of that work, a multi agency partnership, led by Councillor Julius Nkafu (Hackney Council Cabinet Member) is developing a targeted project to reduce anti social behaviour and related crime in the Hackney Central Area.

Reducing anti social behaviour within the Mare Street/Narrow Way area will make a significant contribution to tackling the problems that diminish the quality of life of those who live, work and visit Hackney. The main aim of the project will be to significantly reduce the causes and affects of anti social behaviour and related and collateral crime in the defined area with the objective that overall crime and disorder rates in the hotspot will be sustainably reduced. It is intended that the Hackney Cab will be a pilot project for further town centre anti social behaviour reduction work in other parts of the borough

Hackney Central analysis

The top three wards for anti social behaviour police calls have been Hackney Central, Dalston, and Haggerston and all of which are key retail areas and thoroughfares. The commercially most active parts of the Borough have the most significant amounts of anti social behaviour. Therefore in seeking to have the greatest impact on reducing anti social behaviour we need to target these areas in a systematic and sustained way. In that context the Hackney Central Anti-social Behaviour Project (The Hackney Cab Project) is being developed as a pilot scheme to comprehensively tackle ASB in a hotspot area.

This is a significant contribution to anti social behaviour in the Mare Street area. In addition to street drunkenness, a large number of the offences committed are linked to alcohol. As part of the project the borough's Drugs Action team has commissioned a survey of street drinkers in the area.

Action: Through the establishment and enforcement of a ban on street alcohol consumption in three hotspot areas. It is aimed to do this through the application of a formal legal order called a Designation Order. The Designation Order is currently planned to be applied within three managed areas - Clapton Square, Mare Street (The Narrow Way and St John's Churchyard) and The Town Hall Square area. It is intended to effectively control public drinking in all parts of the Hackney Cab area and to control the potential displacement into other adjacent areas. Linked activities will be through licensees liaison to reiterate responsibilities not to sell alcohol to those knowingly identified as drunk and working with rehabilitation and alcohol dependency services to improve off-street opportunities to positively deal with the problems.

Street begging in Hackney Central is a small but significant activity. It appears to be unrelated to street drinking. Some of those who beg are homeless and some - as has been recently identified in an ad hoc survey are homeless people who have been decanted from Westminster where anti begging activities of the City Authority have been vigorous.

Action: It is believed that a number of the beggars undertake their activities to supplement a drugs habit. Survey work is to be undertaken with these people through a St Botolph's/Housing Directorate survey and to develop work which will divert these people from `street life'.

Illicit Street trading is significant, specifically in the Narrow Way area, has a number of effects.

Action: A range of activities targeted at these problems are being developed by the Council's Crime watch Co-ordinator, the Metropolitan Police and the Borough's Trading Standards Service. Specific activities will include regular removal of illicit traders, and where they return lawful confiscation of their goods. The work will also include the establishment of a Town Exclusion Order - which will detect and prevent known retail criminals (shoplifters and credit card frauds specifically) from `working the area'. In addition there will be further enhancement of the retail radio scheme in the area and other activities which will make the area safer and more secure for shoppers and retailers.

Table 3: Retail crimes committed within the CAB area

As is identified above, a significant amount of the identified crime in the area is retail crime. The Borough's Crime watch Co-ordinator (who specialises in working to reduce retail crime) is currently targeting work in the Mare Street area.

Action: The Co-ordinator is working with the local Hackney Traders Association and individual retailers to a strengthen the fight against retail crime by improving communications on key issues, developing the distribution of retail radios (very soon these will total 48 in the Mare Street area) and with the introduction of the Town Exclusion Order that will be brought in August/September 2003.

The retailers will use their radios to assist the police in enforcing the exclusion order and tackling ASB and also to take on schemes to secure the safety of their staff and customers. In 2004 we aim to enter for a Town Safe Shopping Award for the Mare Street area.

Other Collateral Crime

The range of offences committed in the area is identified below in detail. The area is a high crime area and it can be seen from the top level crimes below that many of these are the types of offending which either relate to retail crime or to misuse of alcohol.

Top Five Types of Offending in the Cab area during 2002-03

As is noted above, targeted work on retail crime and alcohol related offending is being established. Additionally there will be further enhancements to the work currently being undertaken to tackle personal theft and theft from motor vehicles in the area.

“The Cab Project” (Area Map)

Community Consultation Report for Proposed Designation Order

Summary

A comprehensive consultation with residents and local business people was undertaken during August and September 2003 to identify community concern to reduce anti social behaviour in the Hackney Central Ward and to gauge support for the proposed Council measures. As will be seen from the report below those surveyed gave overwhelming support for the introduction of Designation Orders with more than 93% of the licensees and residents of the proposed designation area supporting the proposal.

The consultations were undertaken:

Those consulted were local residents, local retail businesses, local on and off licensees. Lead members and lead officers. The area was leafleted, retailers meetings were attended and the programme explained, and one to one interviews.

Additionally, in July 2003 Hackney Drug Action Team (HDAT) requested the Finsbury Park Street Drinkers Initiative (FPSDI) to undertake a survey amongst `Street Drinkers' within a designated area of the London Borough of Hackney. The survey was instigated prior to the introduction of a `restricted zone' in the borough where the drinking of alcohol on the streets would be prohibited. This survey summary is dealt with separately below.

Scope

Consultation with residents of the designation order area and the licensees operating in the designation order areas were carried out to gauge opinion and views of the scheme and to inform and involve residents and licensees in the process.

General Returns

Street Drinkers

The street drinking population within the designated area is reflective of the stereotypical notion of street drinkers in general i.e. mainly white males who are in their 30's or older. One woman was interviewed.

One significant finding was that over 63% (12/19) of those interviewed were Irish born (including the one woman). Given that the Irish born population of the London Borough of Hackney stands at around 4%, the findings strongly suggest that Irish people are peculiarly over represented within this indicator of deprivation.

Most of the Irish respondents came from rural backgrounds and emigrated into UK society during the 1960's/70's, and to a lesser extent the 1980's. It became evident that the sole history of employment for many of these men was in unskilled, labour intensive, non-regulated construction work.

The average age of Irish respondents was 51. British respondents average age was 46.

All respondents stated they lived in Hackney, with 95% (18/19) claiming to have lived there for 10 years or more.

A relatively high proportion - 79% (15/19) - claimed to hold either a Local Authority or Housing Association secure tenancy. 2 were in temporary accommodation and 2 were homeless.

84% (16/19) disclosed having an alcohol dependency for 10 years or more, with the same figure stating they drank on the streets on most days.

The most striking findings were evidenced with regard to agency involvement. Of the four agencies included in the questionnaire, and whose remit includes the designated area, 63% (12/19) stated they are/have been in contact with the Space Centre, 5% (1/19) had been in contact with Crossroads, and not one respondent claimed to have any contact with either Turning Point or Hackney Substance Misuse Team.

50% (6/12) of Irish respondents had or were in contact with the Space Centre, with 86% (6/7) of British respondents being so. All respondents interviewed within the Church Gardens were in contact with the Space Centre.

Conclusion

12 respondents (63%) stated they would use a `day centre' if there was one in the area instead of drinking on the streets. 6 (32%) responded `don't know' and there was only 1 negative response.

Enforcement Plan CAB Project Designation Order

The London Borough of Hackney intends to make an Order designating areas of Hackney Central as public places within the meaning of S.13 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001.

These areas are:

1. “Hackney Town Hall area” being the Hackney Town Hall square; Reading Lane between its junctions with Mare St. and Hillman St.; Wilton Way between its junctions with Mare St. and Hillman St. and Mare St. between its junctions with Paragon Rd. and Wilton Way.

2. “St. John's Churchyard area” being the Churchyard of St.John of Hackney Parish Church, Lower Clapton; Mare St. between its junctions with Amhurst Rd and Dalston Lane Rd (commonly known as The Narrow Way); Churchwell Path (running from Morning Lane to Lower Clapton Rd) through the junctions of Sutton Place, Rowe Lane, St.Johns Church Rd, Mahetabel Rd and Isabel Rd.

3. “Clapton Square” being the land and surrounding road known as Clapton Square, and Lower Clapton Rd between its junctions with the West and East sides of Clapton Square.

The effect of the order would be:

The Council has taken part in a full consultation process with all involved and affected parties, which has included the issue of a public notice and consultation with all statutory bodies. The general comment from the consultation process was supportive.

This map shows the designated areas banning street drinking:

Powers to enforce - Supporting legislation

Sections 12-16 of the Criminal Justice Police Act 2001 provide local authorities with powers to designate areas which have a history of known anti-social drinking and nuisance.

Where areas have been designated, Clause 13 allows a police officer to require a person:

Power to arrest

If the person refuses, without reasonable excuse, to comply with the officers requirement to cease or surrender it will be an arrestable offence. The officer will have the power to confiscate and dispose of any such alcohol.

Clause 14 : Places which are not designated public places

The restriction on public drinking will not apply to any premises or area covered by a licence allowing the consumption of alcohol, for example, the premises of licensed houses, clubs or restaurants.

If an area is so designated, the local bye laws relating to no drinking cease to exist.

Enforcement Action

Signage

Following implementation of the Designation Order, it is intended to place fixed signage and posters in prominent positions at all designated areas, informing the public of the Order and its provisions. See example:

Notification to Street Drinkers

All known and suspected Street Drinkers will be given leaflets explaining the new provisions and the actions that will be taken if they fail to comply with the legislation. This leaflet hopes to offer them the facility of calling in at a mobile `wet centre'(awaits agreement) and the option of other support services available.

(PCSO's to leaflet)

Police Action

Following the implementation, the police neighbourhood team at Hackney and the Police Community Support Officers will conduct two high-profile enforcement days within the first two weeks of the scheme coming into practice. It is hoped that these will both be in December prior to Christmas. These will be followed by a further enforcement day in the first two weeks of January. Once again, the intention is for a wet centre to be available for any referrals. Advice can be given on alternatives. The press will be invited to one of these days to publicise the scheme.

The Community Beat Officer for the `Narrow Way' will then organise enforcement days in consultation with his supervisors and team, in response to identified continued use of the area by street drinkers who will be supported by care services as appropriate.

Two Police Community Support Officers (PCSO's) will be given specific responsibility for the CAB area, attending the local Mare Street Business Watch and monitoring the need for further enforcement with the Beat Officer. It should be pointed out here that PCSO's only have the power to confiscate alcohol from minors, so full enforcement can only be carried out by regular police officers.

Monitoring

The Order and its success will be monitored by the Community Safety Team at Hackney Town Hall in conjunction with the Borough Police. Calls to disturbances by drunks etc can be measured by analysis of the police CAD system and referrals to the `Wet Centre' recorded.

For further information please contact:

Insp Karl Winter

Seconded - Community Safety Team

020 8356 3186

Provision of a Drop -in Facility for Street Substance Misusers in Hackney

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 03

Hackney DAT, in its draft Alcohol Strategy recommended that the DAT

"… deliver a strategy to ensure a significant reduction in street drinking and related anti-social behaviour. Aspects of this will include enforcement, designing out the potential for street drinking.

An audit will be undertaken to determine both the needs of street drinkers and their levels of drinking, and a pilot street drinkers' project will be commissioned to respond to audit findings. Innovative approaches will be developed to encourage street drinkers to access relevant services." (Hackney DAT Alcohol Misuse Strategy 2002-2005: Promoting a Comprehensive Response to Alcohol Misuse in our Community (Strategic Aim 1) October 2002)

While the Strategy has yet to be agreed by DAT partners and funding identified to support its recommendations, nevertheless the current development of the proposed Street Drop-in is a welcome contribution to the implementation of the DAT Strategy. The DAT is in a position to contribute some funding for this service but will require additional support from other funding streams to make the proposal fully operational by March 04.

In view of the Council's determination to tackle anti-social behaviour in particular around three designation order areas as part of the new Hackney CAB Project, additional funding and support across partners may now help us to provide the kind of street drop-in that the DAT has previously identified as a local need.

It should be noted from the start that this is a pilot project and its continuity is dependent on