After consultation with Ward Councillors it was agreed that an enforcement initiative would start during September 2000 in the Earls Court Area and run until 9 March 2001. The initiative was also used to gather evidence to support the proposed application to the Home Office for a byelaw creating an offence of drinking alcohol in a street.

Prior to the introduction of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 it was necessary to seek confirmation from the Home Office before a byelaw to prohibit street drinking could be introduced. Considerable work needed to be undertaken by officers prior to seeking such a byelaw. Much of this had been achieved when the new legislation was introduced to Parliament. The Director of Law and Administration advised that the byelaw application would be unlikely to succeed when an Act drafted specifically to deal with the problem was on the statute book. In fact, the new legislation abolished the previous power to make byelaws to prohibit street drinking.

As a result of the pending legislation, work being carried out by officers and Ward Councillors was suspended awaiting the introduction of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001, which came into force in September 2001. The requirements for consultation and administration are now considerably simpler than that required for a byelaw.

Section 13 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 (“the Act”) allows local authorities to make orders designating public areas where drinking of alcohol is prohibited. The Council must be satisfied that the area proposed to be covered by the Order is associated with nuisance as a result of the drinking of alcohol.

Police Officers from Earls Court have confirmed that on street drinking is the basis for many incidents that require the attendance of police. Attached at Appendix A are statistics from the Metropolitan Police indicating the number of drink related arrests during 2000.

Council officers made observations during the period October and November 2000 regarding the number of street drinkers at any one time, at this time there were on average 11 street drinkers each day in the Earls Court area, concentrated around the station entrance in Earls Court Road. Subsequent to the Earls Court Initiative the number reduced considerably but has recently increased as the constant presence of both Council and Police Officers has diminished.

Both Police and Council Officers are in agreement that on street drinking is the cause of many problems and has been detrimental to the street scene in Earls Court.

Consultation with all 143 holders of liquor licences within the proposed area was undertaken in November 2001. The response from licence holders was positive with three written responses being received. Two were supportive and one sought clarification of the extent of the proposal. Attached as Appendix E is a list of all those consulted.

During the tenure of the Earls Court Initiative Council Officers visited every trade property in Earls Court Road to seek their opinion on the proposed byelaw, this exercise showed that there was overwhelming support for a street drinking ban from this section of the business community. Of 65 premises visited one was against a ban, 10 were undecided and 54 supported the proposal. Officers believe that the information collected leaves no doubt as to both the need for a street drinking ban and the support in the community for one.

The Act is specific in only permitting orders to be made covering public places, within the area of a local authority and which are identified by the local authority as being places where nuisance or annoyance to members of the public or disorder has been associated with the consumption of intoxicating liquor in that place.

Once an order has been made, and has come into force, any person consuming alcohol in a public place within the designated area can be instructed by a constable not to consume that alcohol and if requested to surrender that alcohol to the constable (other than that in a sealed container).

Failure to comply with the constable's requirements leaves the offender liable to prosecution with a maximum fine of £500; the offence also carries the power of arrest. It should be noted that Council Officers have no power to act or enforce orders made under this legislation.

It should be noted that the Act at section 14, excludes certain areas from being part of a designated public place and therefore cannot be covered by the Order. These include licensed premises and any area falling within the curtilage of licensed premises, this would include properly licensed tables and chairs on the highway and forecourts. Also included are any places having an occasional licence.

The proposed public area to be covered by the order is shown as the shaded area on the attached map as Appendix B. It covers the area adjoined by Old Brompton Road, Knaresborough Place, West Cromwell Road and Warwick Road. This area has been identified following officer's observations and information from the Police identifying trouble spots and incorporating them. It is the belief of both Council and Police Officers that there is a drink related problem in the area identified.

The licensee of any licensed premises within the area of the ban or whose premises may be affected by the designation must be consulted. This has been carried out with the results detailed in 2.7. Whilst the response was disappointing, those who did respond were supportive.

The legislation also requires the Council to take "reasonable steps" to consult with "owners" and "occupiers" of any land within the designated area before an Order can be made. This requirement is not considered to apply to the land to be covered by the proposed order because according to Council records, the area does not appear to include any privately owned land. In any event, if any land were privately owned then these would only form a very small part of the overall area. In this respect, the Home Office guidance of this requirement states: “There may well be occasions when it is impossible to identify or find owners of particular land or property, so Regulation 3(2) does not place an absolute requirement on local authorities in this instance. It requires local authorities to take all reasonable steps to consult land owners”. Many premises in the area were visited during the Earl's Court Initiative and therefore their occupiers are aware of the proposal. In these circumstances it is considered that "reasonable steps" have already been taken to consult as required. In addition, before the order can be made, a notice will be displayed in the local press inviting representations which will give any such persons another opportunity to comment on the proposals.

Should Members wish to proceed then the Council will be required to place an advertisement in the local press detailing the proposal and inviting representations. Subsequent to a minimum period of 28 days for representations the order can then be made and a further advertisement placed giving details of the date that the Order takes effect. It is a requirement of the legislation that signs be erected in sufficient numbers to draw members of the public's attention to the order and the area affected. The number of signs to be erected will need to be substantial because the Act requires that they need to be sufficient to notify members of public of the designation. This is important because if a member of the public is asked to stop drinking or is prosecuted, it will be necessary to prove that they were sufficiently aware of the prohibition and may have a successful defence if insufficient signs are on display throughout the area. The lampposts that signs would be affixed to and their locations are shown on Appendices C and D subject to consultation with Transport for London.

Officers believe that the proposed Order will be a useful tool in improving the street scene within the Earls Court area and are supportive of its introduction. There will be a visible impact on the area by the erection of signs detailing the order. Officers believe the visual damage created by additional “clutter” is outweighed by the possible improvements from such a ban.

Whilst it was originally believed that there would be no cost in implementing this order it is now accepted that there will be costs in placing the advertisements necessary and to purchase and erect the relevant sign. The cost of the signs and erection is estimated at £750.00

The Committee is recommended to agree in principle to making an order banning street drinking in the area hatched in black on the map shown at Appendix B.

The Committee is further recommended to delegate the power to the Director of Waste Management and Leisure to consider the results of the consultation process and to determine whether a street drinking order should be made for the Earl's Court area unless objections are received which he considers should be considered by the Committee.

If the Director of Waste Management and Leisure decides to make an Order under his delegated powers as stated in 8.4 above, he shall carry out all of the statutory requirements including the erection of signs throughout the designated.