PM announces £1,000 fines for graffiti and fly-tipping, ban on hippy crack and begging gangs
27 March 2023, 11:03 | Updated: 27 March 2023, 11:59
Rishi Sunak has announced plans to crack down on anti-social behaviour that include tougher fines for ‘nuisance’ crimes like graffiti and fly-tipping.
In a new series of measures announced today the Prime Minister vowed a tougher stance on hooligans, a ban on nitrous oxide, and plans to make ‘organised begging’ an offence.
People responsible for anti-social behaviour will be told to wear high-viz jumpsuits.
“It is not the type of country that we are and that is why it is important we do something about it,” Mr Sunak said today.
The key measures announced today are:
- Ban on laughing gas: police given new powers to drug test suspects on arrest
- Fly-tipping: Tougher on-the-spot fines for fly tipping, graffiti and littering
- Begging: Organising a begging network to be made an offence
- New tool to report anti-social behaviour
- Payback :Offenders to wear high viz vests or jump suits
Under the plans, on-the-spot fines for fly-tippers will jump from £400 to £1,000, while those caught littering or spraying graffiti face fines of £500 - currently capped at £150.
Mr Sunak, speaking ahead of the official unveiling, said anti-social behaviour “undermines the basic right of people to feel safe in the place they call home.”
Mr Sunak said: "Dropping litter, fly-tipping and graffitiing show an unacceptable lack of respect for everyone else in a community. While many up and down the country work so hard to make communal areas such as high streets, town squares and parks look beautiful, a small minority tarnish them through their selfish, thoughtless actions. It's not right and it's not fair.”
The new approach is expected to be trialled in ten areas before being rolled out across England and Wales in 2024.
