On Wednesday 25June, we held an informative Breakfast Briefing on the Crime and Policing Bill ("The Bill") chaired by Rebecca Brady and Charlotte Knight.
The Bill continues its progress through Parliament and we felt this was an opportune moment to keep our clients informed and updated.
Top 5 Takeaways
1. Respect Orders
A new civil behaviour order to enable courts to stop adult offenders from engaging in specified activities relating to anti-social behaviour (ASB).
Breach of a Respect Order will be a criminal offence, with summary offences being dealt with in the Magistrates Court and the most serious breaches in the Crown Court.
A key change brought from the House of Commons Committee Stage, saw the consequential amendments to both the Housing Act 1985, including respect orders as an absolute ground for possession for anti-social behaviour, and the Housing Act 1988, including respect orders as a mandatory Ground 7A for orders of possession.
2. Respect Orders v Housing Injunctions
The Bill states that an application for a respect order may be treated as an application for a housing injunction, and vice versa. A court dealing with an application can therefore consider if it is able to grant the other, if deemed more appropriate, offering flexibility and a pragmatic approach to be taken.
An example of this would be where a housing injunction is applied for, however, the court deems a respect order to be more appropriate, owing to the conduct meeting the higher threshold for "harassment, alarm or distress".
3. Closure Orders
The Bill extends the power to issue closure notices and obtain closure orders to registered social housing providers, not just police and local authorities.
The Bill also extends the timeframe that relevant agencies can apply to a magistrates' court for a closure order from 48 hours after service of a closure notice to 72 hours.
4. Cuckooing
The new offence of Cuckooing will be made a standalone criminal offence, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
5. Areas of concern
Current areas of concern surrounding the Bill include a lack of mention of Court reform and continuing delays in the Magistrates Courts. Further concerns show that despite the welcomed reforms that registered social housing providers will be able to issue closure notices, the police will still be required to enforce those breaches, so resource and management remains a key issue.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
