Opposition group leader claims the council has not provided the data necessary to properly understand how well its policy is working, reports Joe Ives, Local Democracy Reporter

Barnet Council's Colindale office and (inset) Tory group leader Peter Zinkin — Barnet Council’s Colindale office and (inset) Tory group leader Peter Zinkin

It’s “impossible to tell” the effectiveness of Barnet Council’s public space protection orders (PSPOs), a councillor has argued.

The concerns were raised by Conservative councillor Peter Zinkin at an overview and scrutiny meeting last Tuesday (24th).

Cllr Zinkin said the local authority was failing to provide the data necessary to properly understand how well its policy is working.

A borough-wide public space protection order (PSPO) was first introduced by the local authority in 2022 for a three-year fixed term. This was renewed for a further three years in December last year alongside the introduction of three additional PSPOs.

According to a council report, the first public space protection order, referred to by the council as ’PSPO1’, gave the council and police “enhanced powers to respond swiftly and proportionately” to antisocial behaviours.

These include “alcohol related nuisance, harassment or aggressive conduct, dog fouling, limits on dog numbers in designated areas, urinating or defecating in public, aggressive begging, and unlicensed music events”.

The three new PSPOs (PSPO2, PSPO3, PSPO4) approved last year include a gating order, loitering offences for certain wards, and borough-wide bird feeding prohibition.

Cllr Zinkin, who is also leader of the opposition at the local authority, cast doubts about the usefulness of a report published by the council examining the effectiveness its scheme, noting that “almost all the offences are subject to other acts”.

With this in mind he argued that the role of the council’s public protection orders in addressing anti-social behaviour is unclear.

“My observation is – having looked at the data – I’m not much wiser what the real impact of the PSPO is,” he said, adding: “It’s impossible to tell at the moment because we’ve got no data at all.”

Sara Conway, the council’s cabinet member for community safety, responded, saying there was already “quite detailed reporting on all of these things” available as part of quarterly publications by the inter-agency Safer Communities Partnership Board.

“I’m sure things can always be improved,” she added.

Cllr Zinkin wasn’t convinced. He questioned why, if data was available, it wasn’t presented to councillors tasked with scrutinising the local authority’s PSPO policies and their impact.

“It would seem helpful to understand what it is we’re really talking about,” said Zinkin.

Following the discussion, the overview and scrutiny committee agreed to “continue to monitor the overall effectiveness” of the measures, with further data to be provided in future.

The council says the orders, which are aimed at tackling “persistent and detrimental anti-social behaviour (ASB) in the borough”, are popular with residents, noting that 87% of those who responded to a public consultation on the policiy supported the measures.

“I hope they’re not reporting councillors for loitering – because we’re doing quite a lot of it at the moment on the streets of Barnet,” joked Labour member Kath McGuirk at the meeting – a reference to the upcoming local elections.

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