'Begging on our streets is to fuel substance abuse' says Luton Borough Council's chief executive officer

“The begging we have on the street is not to buy food,” according to the borough council chief executive Robin Porter.

“The begging we have on our street is to fuel substance abuse,” he told the local authority’s scrutiny crime and disorder committee.

“It’s pure criminal activity,” he said. “That creates a vicious circle in our town centre which leads to it being further unsafe.

“One of the wonderful things about Luton is the level of caring in our community. Nobody needs to go hungry here.”

The committee was being asked to support proposals to vary the terms of the town centre public space protection order (PSPO) relating to begging.

“The order allows local authorities and the police to prohibit or restrict certain behaviours within an area to tackle anti-social behaviour and help people feel safer,” explained a report to councillors.

“This is usually by way of a fixed penalty notice, set at £75 locally and reduced to £50 for early payment.”

Vicky Hawkes, from the council’s community safety team, said: “Our Luton Community Safety Partnership (CSP) approach is about building a space that is safe.

“It should be an enjoyable experience to come into the town centre. The PSPO is only one part of the puzzle to tackle begging there.

“A great deal of care and planning has gone into our PSPO because we want individuals to break the cycle of poverty and exploitation which surrounds begging.

“We’ve been doing a consultation on a potential amendment to the PSPO which will move the current requirement that people have to be asked to stop begging.

“Compliance with that request is very high. But we’re not seeing the overall behaviour change or reduction in begging, which is our goal.”

A number of options are available to the council, which would retain the option of giving someone a warning or giving them advice.

“We will also keep the strong restorative justice approach we’ve adopted, where we’ll give them access to a CSP assessment and services, instead of a fixed penalty,” she added.

“But fixed penalties will continue to be an option, as will prosecution.

“The neighbourhood enforcement team have an increasing preventative presence, as people disperse on seeing our officers. The commitment is there.”

Labour Lewsey councillor Aslam Khan said: “There has to be an enforcement. You can no longer just ask people to stop.

“They move ten yards down the line and start all over again. We have to take a serious stance.

“If we don’t do that people abuse the laws of this town and we are attracting others coming from outside.

“People do not have a need to beg. We have all these organisations locally which provide them with everything necessary for them not to beg.”

Liberal Democrat Barnfield councillor David Franks said the committee should accept the recommended change to the PSPO.

And he called for “all members of the community safety partnership to do something about the appallingly low level of enforcement in the town centre”.

The committee agreed to accept the recommended changes for the PSPO, which will now be referred to the council's executive for approval.