Have your say on revised measures to tackle anti-social behaviour related to alcohol consumption in Norwich

Norwich residents, workers, businesses, and visitors are being asked to give their views on a review of additional powers for the police and Norwich City Council to address nuisance behaviour related to alcohol consumption in the city.

Norwich City Council is consulting on proposals to update the 2021 Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) which addresses concerns about anti-social behaviour related to public alcohol consumption in Norwich. The updated PSPO would apply to the whole Norwich district area to avoid displacing a problem to different areas within the city.

PSPOs are used by councils and their partners to deal with anti-social behaviour in their local areas under the Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB), Crime and Policing Act 2014.

The revised PSPO for alcohol will include the same powers as the current PSPO.

The PSPO gives the police or other authorised officer the power to warn a person not to consume alcohol in a public place if that person is committing anti-social behaviour or is judged to be likely to cause anti-social behaviour by continued consumption of alcohol. The warning lasts for a week and may be given verbally or in writing.

If that person continues to consume alcohol, then they are in breach of the PSPO.

The PSPO also gives police or other authorised officer the power to confiscate the alcohol from the person and dispose of the alcohol. Failure to surrender the alcohol is a breach of the PSPO.

The PSPO will be used in conjunction with other tools and powers the police and partners already have to address the issue. We anticipate that the vast majority of breaches of the PSPO will be dealt with solely by the police.

(Please visit the consultation page for details).

The purpose of the PSPO is to reduce issues of public drunkenness and disorderly conduct in the city, and to improve the quality of life for residents and visitors by tackling behaviour that may be causing harm or nuisance in public spaces.

Anyone found to be breaching the PSPO can be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice by Norwich City Council and subsequently prosecuted if they fail to pay it.

A spokesperson for Norwich City Council said: "Norwich City Council work hard with partners including the police to tackle all types of anti-social behaviour. Anti-social behaviour related to alcohol consumption in public places can make our city and neighbourhoods feel unsafe for residents, workers, and visitors. The proposed extended coverage of the PSPO is designed to help to tackle the problem and keep Norwich a safe and friendly place to live, work and visit.

"This citywide consultation invites people to not only provide feedback on our proposals but to ask questions and highlight their own experience with any of the issues involved, this feedback will be taken into consideration when producing the final document and help inform other partnership action".

You can take part in the consultation on the council's consultation and engagement platform, Get Talking Norwich

The public consultation will be open on Tuesday 7 May 2024 and will close on Tuesday 21 May 2024.

Have your say: Link to survey https://gettalking.norwich.gov.uk/alcoholpspo