Children as young as ten could be fined £500 for playing football under ‘busybody orders’
CHILDREN as young as 10 could now be fined for playing outside with their friends, due to a new law that could see them slapped with £500 bill.
In the new law, a community protection notice’s (CPN) age restriction will be lowered from 16 to 10, and on-the-spot fines will be raised from £100 to £500.
The new law can be used to stop children from playing football outside as it could break ‘busybody orders’ and can also be used to prevent people from feeding birds in their own garden.
One school was issued with a CPN by their town hall for letting kids use leather footballs, reports the Daily Mail.
And a 97-year-old Blackpool resident, Anne Seago, was threatened with a fine after her neighbours complained about her feeding birds in her garden.
The government has said that the increase of the fine will “will help deter more people from breaching PSPOs and CPNs. As increased fines carry more weight, we expect this will have a greater impact on the reduction of ASB.”
They also state that the age being decreased “will help the police and other agencies to intervene early to stop ASB by young children escalating.”
However, as a way to protect the young offenders, relevant agencies will have to “engage youth services prior to issuing a CPN to an offender aged under 16.”
Josie Appleton, of civil liberties group Manifesto Club, told the daily paper: “CPNs can be written on the spot and include substantial restrictions on liberties such as barring a person from their town centre.
“It is terrifying that children still in primary school would have to defend themselves against council lawyers if they want to challenge CPN restrictions such as bans on seeing friends or entering an area.”
CPNs were introduced in 2014 by then home secretary Theresa May.
They are used to help police and councils reduce anti-social behavior (ASB) without the need to take offenders to court.
Upon hearing a complaint from a resident, social landlords, police or council staff are to issue a warning to the supposed offender for the ‘detrimental effect on the quality of life’ the nuisances are causing.
If the offender does not change their ways, a CPN can be issued, and if breached they can be taken to court.
Some residents have been on the receiving end of a CPN threat for overfilling their bins, wearing a bikini in their garden, failing to keep their windows clean and even feeding a neighbours cat.