No fines were issued for street drinking in Stockport from 2018 to 2020 — but the council insists orders which try to stop anti-social behaviour are working.
Data from a freedom of information request to Stockport council shows that no fines were imposed for street drinking from 2018 to 2021 — although the order ceased being active in October last year.
Other public space protection orders (PSPOs) include restrictions on car cruising and rules for dog walkers.
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Five fines were issued under the dog ownership PSPO, mainly for fouling breaches — with one owner being in control of more than four hounds on a recreation ground.
The car cruising regulations were the ones most-broken, with 12 fines handed out — including seven last year alone.
Now, despite not using the power to fine street drinkers, the council says the orders are working as a ‘deterrent’.
“The number of fines issued does not equate directly to the effectiveness of a PSPO,” a spokesperson told the Manchester Evening News .
“In the case of car cruising for example, a long standing problem that had affected town centre residents and businesses has virtually been eliminated.
“The existence of the PSPO plus proportionate enforcement, including fines on some occasions, has had the required deterrent effect. In the case of street drinking, it is important to remember that this was not brought in as a street drinking ban.
“It is a discretionary power that the Police have that can be used in the event of trouble and someone refusing to either stop drinking or hand over alcohol. Again, the absence of fines doesn’t mean that it has been ineffective as fines are one of the tools available as part of a proportionate enforcement response.”
The council added that it would ‘gladly rescind’ a fine if an appeal is lodged and the authority has ‘made a mistake’.
PSPOs have a shelf-life of three years, and can be used to prohibit certain activities, or require certain things to be done by people engaged in particular activities, within a defined public area, like picking up after your dog.
You can find out more about Stockport’s PSPOs on the council’s website.
