The Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 (c.38) is an
Act of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...
which almost entirely applies only to
England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...
. The Act, championed by then
Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...
,
David Blunkett
David Blunkett, Baron Blunkett, (born 6 June 1947) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education and Employment from 1997 to 2001, Home Secretary from 2001 to 2004 and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in 2005. ...
, was passed in 2003. As well as strengthening the
anti-social behaviour order and
Fixed Penalty Notice provisions, and banning
spray paint
Spray paint (formally aerosol paint) is paint that comes in a sealed, pressurized can and is released in an aerosol spray when a valve button is depressed. The propellant is what the container of pressurized gas is called. When the pressure hol ...
sales to people under the age of 16, it gives local councils the power to order the removal of
graffiti
Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...
from private property.
It also specifically addressed
truancy
Truancy is any intentional, unjustified, unauthorized, or illegal absence from compulsory education. It is a deliberate absence by a student's own free will and usually does not refer to legitimate excused absences, such as ones related to medic ...
,
drug houses, false reports of emergency, fireworks,
public drunkenness and
gang activity.
Class A drug, supply, distribution or production premises closure orders
Until October 2014, Part I of the Act ("Premises where drugs used unlawfully") enabled the police to close residential premises concerned in the use, production or supply of
Class A drugs and which were associated with serious nuisance or disorder to members of the public in the preceding three months. After such a notice had been served, within 48 hours a
magistrates' court
A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several Jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings.
Courts
* Magistrates' court (England and Wales) ...
had to consider the application, and could make a closure order under Section 2, known as a "Class A drug, supply, distribution or production premises closure Order". The effect of such an order was that no-one could lawfully enter the premises whilst the order was in place, and it became a criminal offence to do so.
Antisocial behaviour closure orders
Between December 2008 and October 2014, Part 1A of the Act ("Premises associated with persistent disorder or nuisance") created the Part 1A closure order or antisocial behaviour closure order. Sections 11A-11L of the 2003 Act permitted the police or local authority to apply to magistrates to close premises where they were satisfied that within the preceding three months the premises had been associated with "significant and persistent disorder or persistent serious nuisance to members of the public." The order could be made in respect of business or residential premises. Similar to the Part 1 Order (
Crack house
A drug house is a residence used in the illegal drug trade. Drug houses shelter drug users and provide a place for drug dealers to supply them. Drug houses can also be used as laboratories to synthesize (cook) drugs, or cache ingredients and p ...
closure order), it became an offence to remain in or re-enter the premises for the duration of the order.
Parts 1 and 1A were repealed on 20 October 2014 by
Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 Sch.11(1) para 41(a).
Antisocial behaviour injunctions (ASBIs)
Part II ("Housing") amended housing legislation to require social housing organisations to adopt and publish policies on anti-social behaviour. It also strengthened the power of
registered social landlords (RSLs) to take action against tenants who cause nuisance or annoyance to neighbours. One power was that secure tenancies could be 'demoted' by order of the
County Court, which in theory at least, made eviction easier. A further important provision provided a mechanism for RSLs to apply for injunctions against people causing nuisance and annoyance to people in the neighbourhood of their housing stock. Section 13 of the 2003 Act amended Part V of the Housing Act 1996 ('Conduct of Tenants'), by repealing Sections 152 and 153, and inserting new Sections 153A - 153E. Where a person was invited into residential premises by the occupier, in breach of an s.153A injunction, they committed an offence.
Section 153A of the Housing Act 1996 was repealed in March 2015.
Parenting orders
Part III ("Parental responsibilities") amends 'parenting orders', which were introduced by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. These are intended to specify steps parents must take to control their children. It also introduces 'parenting contracts', which are mainly intended to cover child truancy.
Dispersal zones
Between January 2004 and October 2014, Part IV ("Dispersal of groups etc.") gave the police powers to disperse groups of two or more persons in any public place if their presence "has resulted, or is likely to result, in any members of the public being intimidated, harassed, alarmed or distressed". There was also a power for a police officer (or
PCSO) to accompany any unaccompanied person of under 16 to their home between the hours of 9 pm and 6 am. Section 30 did not apply to lawful pickets, although the human rights implications had been considered by the courts on a number of occasions. The power for police to remove a child under s30 was permissive, not coercive.
Part IV was repealed in October 2014 by
Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 Sch.11(1) para 41(c).
Firearms
Part V ("Firearms") amends the
Firearms Act 1968
The Firearms Act 1968 (c. 27) is a UK act of Parliament, controlling use and possession of firearms.
Overview
The Act brought together all existing firearms legislation in a single statute. For the first time, it introduced controls for long ...
to make possession of an airgun or an imitation weapon in public an offence. The sale of imitation firearms was further limited by section 36 of the
Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 (VCRA) which made sale of realistic imitation firearms (RIF's) an offence. Various groups of people who legitimately use RIF's, for work or pleasure, can provide a seller with a defence against prosecution as provided for in section 37 of the VCRA. These groups are set out in regulations made by the Secretary of State, and can be changed at any time.
The environment
Part VI ("The Environment") contains a selection of miscellaneous provisions. It gives councils power to serve a closure order on premises causing public nuisance by noise. Councils also now have the power to serve a ''graffiti removal notice'' on the person in control (usually the owner) of any surface that is street furniture (such as a telephone box, post box or bus stop) where graffiti has been applied, this legislation does not apply to private property. There is a right of appeal to the magistrates court over such a notice, and one ground for appeal is that 'the defacement is neither detrimental to the amenity of the area nor offensive'. It makes the sale of aerosol paint to any person under 16 illegal.
Raves and travellers
Part VII ("Public Order and Trespass") amends the
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994
The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (c. 33) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It introduced a number of changes to the law, most notably in the restriction and reduction of existing rights, clamping down on unlicensed ...
in two main ways. First, the definition of a 'rave' is amended so that only 20 people, rather than 100 must be present. Second the powers of police to move unauthorised travellers' sites are strengthened. This Part also amends the provisions of the
Public Order Act 1986
The Public Order Act 1986 (c. 64) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that creates a number of public order offences. They replace similar common law offences and parts of the Public Order Act 1936. It implements recommendations concerning public assemblies. The earlier Act gave the police power to intervene if a public assembly of 20 or more people appeared likely to cause 'serious public disorder, serious damage to property or serious disruption to the life of the community'. This Act reduces the number to two.
High hedges
Part VIII ("High Hedges") is in response to concerns about
hedge
A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced (3 feet or closer) shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate ...
s, typically of
Leyland Cypress plants, which can grow to 6 metres or more in height, sometimes cutting out light for neighbours. Such hedges are not controlled by
town planning legislation (which normally limits the height of fences to 2 metres), and so there was formerly no way of preventing people from allowing such a hedge to grow. This part of the Act gives local authorities the power to investigate complaints made by people affected by such hedges, and, if necessary, to require their reduction. Councils can charge a fee for dealing with such complaints. Soon after implementation, some councils were charging no fee, while the highest in the country was
Sevenoaks
Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506, situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lo ...
, which charged £650.
Miscellaneous

Part IX ("Miscellaneous") makes some changes to the mechanisms for serving and enforcing
anti-social behaviour orders. Section 89 extended the powers of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs). The key changes are that PCSOs have the power to stop a cyclist, and
accredited support officers or
rail community officers can issue FPNs in respect of a number of offences:
*
Use of insulting or abusive behaviour to cause harassment alarm or distress
* Throwing fireworks in a thoroughfare
*
Trespassing on a railway
*
Throwing stones etc. at trains or other things on railways
* Buying or attempting to buy alcohol for consumption in a bar in licensed premises by a person under 18
* Knowingly giving a
false alarm to the
fire brigade
A fire department (North American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire company, fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and ...
*
Wasting police time or giving a false report
*
Consumption of alcohol in a designated public place[ Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001, s.13]
* Using a public communications system for sending messages known to be false in order to cause annoyance.
Extent
* Part X ("General") limits the extent of the legislation to England and Wales only, apart from Part V.
See also
*
Anti-social behaviour order
*
Broken windows theory
*
Graffiti abatement
References
Bibliography
*
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External links
Hedgeline: "advice and information for Hedge-Victims"Neighbours From Hell in BritainHome Office's ''Respect'' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003
English criminal law
United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2003
Anti-social behaviour
2003 in England
2003 in Wales
Graffiti in the United Kingdom