Decision

The Leader of the Council has decided to make minor amendments to a Public Spaces Protection Order in response to legal challenges from the Free Speech Union.

Analysis

outcome: The Leader of the Council agreed to all proposed amendments to the Order, which were deemed to be minor and did not change the substance of the Order.

summary: The decision involves making minor amendments to a Public Spaces Protection Order to clarify language, align terminology with statutory provisions, and address potential legal challenges.

topline: The Leader of the Council has decided to make minor amendments to a Public Spaces Protection Order in response to legal challenges from the Free Speech Union.

reason_contentious: The issue is contentious due to legal challenges from the Free Speech Union, which has raised concerns about the restrictions in the Order.

affected_stakeholders: ["Leader of the Council", "Cabinet Members", "Free Speech Union", "Residents in restricted areas"]

contentiousness_score: 7

political_party_relevance: There are no explicit mentions of political parties in the decision.

URL: https://democracy.thanet.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=5398

Decision Maker: Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Strategy and Transformation

Outcome:

Is Key Decision?: No

Is Callable In?: Yes

Purpose: A further legal assessment of the terms as set out in the council’s Public Spaces Protection Order agreed by Cabinet on Thursday 24 July 2025 has been undertaken. As a result of the same, it is proposed that certain provisions be refined in order to:   ·  Clarify language and ensure absolute precision in drafting; ·  Align terminology more closely with relevant statutory provisions; ·  Remove any possible ambiguity in the scope of the restrictions; and ·  Confirm, for completeness, that Articles 10 and 11 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) were considered at the point of adoption of the Order.   The amendments do not constitute a significant change from the Order as drafted and agreed by Cabinet on Thursday 24 July 2025 but constitute only minor points of clarification.

Content: A further legal assessment of the terms as set out in the council’s Public Spaces Protection Order agreed by Cabinet on Thursday 24 July 2025 has been undertaken. As a result of the same, it is proposed that certain provisions be refined in order to:   ·  Clarify language and ensure absolute precision in drafting; ·  Align terminology more closely with relevant statutory provisions; ·  Remove any possible ambiguity in the scope of the restrictions; and ·  Confirm, for completeness, that Articles 10 and 11 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) were considered at the point of adoption of the Order.   The amendments do not constitute a significant change from the Order as drafted and agreed by Cabinet on Thursday 24 July 2025 but constitute only minor points of clarification. The Leader of the Council agreed the following:   1.  Minor amendments, in the form of points of clarification, to the Public Spaces Protection Order agreed by Cabinet on Thursday 24 July 2025 - details of the amendments made are set out in the officer report attached to this decision notice;   2.  That the revised order shall be implemented at the earliest possible date after the publication of this decision. The council has been subject to the threat of legal challenge from the Free Speech Union (FSU), a private London based company, with the stated objective of campaigning for free speech. The FSU did not respond to the council’s consultation on this year’s proposed PSPO, but on Wednesday 23 July 2025, immediately prior to the meeting of cabinet on Thursday 24 July 2025, contacted the council with some suggested amendments to the order giving the council no time to properly consider these.   Cabinet met on Thursday 24 July 2025 and, having carefully considered the results of consultation as well as all statutory and public law considerations, including Human Rights Act considerations, decided to implement the Order that was consulted on and as drafted.   The FSU contacted the council by letter again dated Thursday 31 July 2025. This letter was sent under the pre-action protocol for judicial review. In this letter it seeks to challenge the council’s Public Spaces Protection Order on a number of grounds which go well beyond the scope of the issues it raised on 23 July. As a result, the council’s legal team has carried out a further review of the Order and has proposed some amendments which do not change the substance of the Order in any way but do provide further clarity and greater legal precision in relation to the proposed restrictions. The Leader considered whether to agree to all of the proposed amendments, some of the amendments or none of them. The Leader took the decision to agree to all of the amendments. He agreed with the legal view that they constituted minor amendments that did not change the substance of the order but did provide further clarity. He rejected the option not to amend the proposed amendments on the basis that this could leave the council vulnerable to successful legal challenge by the FSU. Similarly he rejected the option to refer the matter back to Cabinet to consider reversing its decision. This option would also leave the council vulnerable with police and enforcement officers without the tools to properly address the significant issues of anti-social behaviour in the restricted areas. This in turn would leave residents exposed to the types of behaviour many described in response to the consultation and which the PSPO seeks to address.

Date of Decision: August 8, 2025