Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) are used by local authorities to help tackle anti-social behaviour in a particular area. Their purpose is to make public spaces safer and improve the quality of life for the local community.
They work by setting out conditions and prohibiting certain activities, such as drinking alcohol, within a defined area, that apply to everyone.
Breaking the conditions of a PSPO is a criminal offence and can be enforced by local authorities and police.
In Sheffield, the decision to introduce a PSPO in the city centre was agreed at a Communities, Parks and Leisure Committee meeting on December 9 2024. This decision followed extensive consultation and feedback from the public.
“Everyone wants a safe and inviting city centre to live in or visit. We are working hard to ensure this, and that the area is the very best that it can be with residents and visitors having an enjoyable and positive experience when they visit.
“Sheffield is one of the safest cities in the country and a PSPO would work towards keeping it that way. It’s about protecting people and stopping anti-social behaviour that might make anyone feel unsafe or insecure.”
Councillor Kurtis Crossland, Chair of Communities, Parks and Leisure Committee at Sheffield City Council
"We recognise there have been some issues in the city centre which existing legislation does not allow police or local authority officers to challenge as robustly as we would like.
"The prohibitions which our PSPO will introduce have been shaped through public feedback and our own colleagues' recognition of the problems we come across. Its introduction will help officers shift standards of behaviour in the city centre through taking early action to prevent the types of anti-social behaviour that affect residents, visitors, and businesses in our city centre.
"Our teams are trained in how to implement the new powers introduced by the PSPO and they will be used proportionately and progressively with the aim of preventing harm to individuals and the wider community."Superintendent Paul Ferguson, of South Yorkshire Police
From Monday 7 April 2025, the Sheffield City Council City Centre Public Spaces Protection Order 2024 will come into effect. The order outlines a number of things that will be prohibited within the city centre boundary, including:
• Alcohol in streets
• Begging
• Loitering
• Drug use
• Urination and/or defecation
A committee report in January 2024 outlined evidence to suggest that a PSPO was needed to address anti-social behaviour in parts of the city centre that was considered to be continuous and unreasonable. Councillors agreed to consult on the draft PSPO.
Members of the public were asked for their views on the draft PSPO and the draft boundaries for which areas a PSPO would cover.
1,205 individuals and 77 organisations responded to the consultation and just over two thirds of individual respondents thought Sheffield City Council should introduce a PSPO in the city centre, with 87% of organisations saying that they agreed with the introduction of a PSPO.
For more information about the PSPO go to the Sheffield City Council website.