On Wednesday 12 December 2019, parliamentarians began the process of debating the possible extension of the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Police Act 2014.
The process which is expected to be completed by the New Year was initiated by Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, who submitted a request for the Act’s extension in November 2017.
The request comes after a year-on-year increase in Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) reports from Metrolink and bus services and stations, with 2017 seeing a total of 3,984 reports, up by 254 from the year before.
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “While the number of incidents of crime and ASB are small compared to the number of journeys that are made every year, such incidents can and do erode confidence in a person’s decision whether or not to use public transport.”
The extension of powers would enable Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) to apply for civil injunctions through the courts, banning disruptive individuals from tram/bus stops, stations and interchanges.
In addition to this TfGM could also then ban these individuals from using Metrolink, and certain bus services.
“Not only would granting TfGM these powers enable fast and effective protection for victims, it would set a clear standard of behaviour for perpetrators, stopping it from escalating without criminalising the individual,” Andy added.
The acceptance of this request by parliament would accompany the work currently being done by TravelSafe Partnership, which takes a multi-agency approach to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour on Greater Manchester transport.
