Community Safety Law
The crime prevention and community safety legislation on this page provides the foundation to the development of the formal crime and disorder partnerships. This area provides direct links to current UK community safety and related legislation. During 2007 a series of 'national standards' are being developed which will enable CDRPs to have a core range of clearly described ways of working.
Crime and Disorder Act 1998
The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 gave local authorities and police services duties to work together to develop crime and disorder audits crime and disorder audits and implement reduction strategies and to work in partnership with other agencies - Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) - to tackle the identified problems. Over the years this has evolved through legislation and practice.
Police and Justice Act 2006
The Police and Justice Act 2006 has comprehensively revised the CDA 1998. The new Act places a duty on responsible authorities to share evidenced-based data to support CDRPs. This now also includes the Fire Service, Probation Service, Health Service, local Police Authority and a representative of Registered Social Landlords (Housing Associations).
The legislation also places a new duty on CDRPs to join together in a formal strategic group to undertake frequent strategic assessments of levels and patterns of crime and drug misuse in their area and to produce annual rolling three year community safety plans (details of which are contained in Statutory Instrument 1830 SI 2007/1830 and SI 2007/1830 (Explanatory Memorandum) which came into force on 1 August 2007.
The provision of information to undertake the strategic assessments are covered in Statutory Instrument 1831 SI 2007/1831 - Print version and SI 2007/1831 - Explanatory Memorandum.
Statutory Public Accountability for CSPs
The provisions contained within Sections 19-21 of the Police and JUstice Act 2006 extended the remit of local authorities to scrutinise the functioning of the local CSPs in England Wales.It puts in place arrangements to ensure that every local authority has in place a committee with power to review and scrutinise, and make reports or recommendations, about the functioning of the CSPs responsible authorities (local authorities, fire and rescue authorities, police authorities, the police, primary care trusts in England and local health boards in Wales).
Policing & Social Responsibility Act 2011
Summary of the Act
The Policing & Social Responsibility Act 2011 covers five distinct policy areas: police accountability and governance; alcohol licensing; the regulation of protests around Parliament Square; misuse of drugs; and the issue of arrest warrants in respect of private prosecutions for universal jurisdiction offences.
Key areas
The Act:
- Replaces police authorities with directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners, with the aim of improving police accountability (outside London first elections to be held November 2012).
- Makes specific provisions in London for the delegation of Police Authority responsibilities to the elected Mayor of London
- Amends and supplements the Licensing Act 2003 with the intention of ‘rebalancing’ it in favour of local authorities, the police and local communities
- Sets out a new framework for regulating protests around Parliament Square. Relevant sections of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 would be repealed and the police would be given new powers to prevent encampments and the use of amplified noise equipment
- Enables the Home Secretary to temporarily ban drugs for up to a year, and removes the statutory requirement for the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to include members with experience in specified activities
- Introduces a new requirement for private prosecutors to obtain the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions prior to the issue of an arrest warrant for ‘universal jurisdiction’ offences such as war crimes or torture. The Government's aim in introducing this change is to prevent the courts being used for political purposes.
* See Counter Terrorism page for anti terror legislation
Updated October 2011
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