Leader – Linden’s law: the blanket ban that left Hackney residents cold

While the newborn Conservative government has been busy unpicking the human rights legislation that guarantees the civility of our democracy, it seems Hackney Council has been acting out a similar move on the local stage.

The Town Hall has embraced measures introduced by the Coalition government (which created 1,073 new criminal offences, adding to the 4,300 new crimes piled up under the previous Labour administration), that allow councils to crack down on any activity in defined public spaces that they believe “is likely to have a detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality”.

In Hackney, a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO), was issued covering large swathes of the borough, allowing the police and council officers to demand that people desist from ‘anti-social activities’ such as begging, sleeping rough in doorways or drinking alcohol in the street. Violating the order could have led to fines up to £1,000 and potentially, a criminal record.

From the moment the Hackney Citizen broke the news, charities, campaign groups and local residents condemned the introduction of the PSPO, particularly the inclusion of ‘rough sleeping’ as an anti-social activity. After over 80,000 people signed a Change.org petition against the “criminalisation of rough sleepers” the Council has relented and has amended the order. But the damage has been done.

The council’s thinking seemed to have been that because rough sleepers are more likely than other groups to commit anti-social offences, the characteristic that unites this group – living and socialising on the streets – should be used to target them all collectively.

The measure raises questions about the underlying beliefs of leading Cabinet members. Leading the charge on this act of legislative kettling is none other than Deputy Mayor Sophie Linden, who was working as an adviser to former Home Secretary David Blunkett when he brought in the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003. As for the council as a whole, the PSPO suggested a ‘not in my backyard’ attitude towards destitution.

Despite the Deputy Mayor Linden’s reassurances to the contrary, the PSPO would have criminalised rough sleepers. This may not have be the council’s intention but that is what would have happened.

As Connor Johnston, barrister at Garden Court Chambers and Hackney resident wrote for The Justice Gap: “Rendering a person liable to prosecution and conviction for an act which would not otherwise be a criminal offence, however well intentioned, can only be described as criminalisation”.