Part 3 – Parliament Square Garden and Surrounding Area
Section 141: Demonstrations in vicinity of Parliament: repeal of SOCPA 2005 provisions
377.Subsection (1) repeals sections 132 to 138 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 which govern protests in a designated area around Parliament. This repeal means that it will no longer be a requirement to give notice of demonstrations in the designated area; it will no longer be an offence for such demonstrations to be held without the authorisation of the Metropolitan Police Commissioner; and it will no longer be an offence for a person to use a loudspeaker in the designated area. Repeal of section 132(6) of the 2005 Act means that section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 will once more apply to public assemblies in the vicinity of Parliament. Repeal of section 138 of the 2005 Act also means that the designated area around Parliament as set out in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (Designated Area) Order 2005 (S.I. 2005/1537) will cease to have effect.
Section 142: Controlled area of Parliament Square
378.Section 142 defines the controlled area of Parliament Square in which the activities set out in section 143(2) are prohibited. This controlled area comprises the central part of Parliament Square which includes the central garden with its areas of grass and walkways as well as the pavements immediately surrounding the central garden. See also the map attached at Annex A to the Explanatory Notes for the delineation of the controlled area (which is the entire hatched area on the map comprising both the Greater London Authority and the Westminster City Council areas of responsibility).
Section 143: Prohibited activities in controlled area of Parliament Square
379.Subsection (1) gives a constable or authorised officer the power to direct a person to stop doing, or not to start doing, a prohibited activity which he reasonably believes a person is doing, or is about to do, in the controlled area.
380.Subsection (2) (a) to (e) sets out the prohibited activities in relation to the controlled area as follows:
operating any amplified noise equipment;
erecting or keeping erected any tent, or any other structure designed or adapted for the purpose of facilitating sleeping or staying in a place for any period;
using any tent or other such structure for the purpose of sleeping or staying in the area;
placing or keeping in place any sleeping equipment with a view to its use for the purpose of sleeping overnight in the area;
using any sleeping equipment for the purpose of sleeping overnight in the area.
381.Subsection (3) sets out express exceptions so that an activity is not a prohibited activity if it is done for emergency services purposes or done by or on behalf of a relevant authority (meaning a Minister of the Crown or a government department, the Greater London Authority or Westminster City Council); or where the Greater London Authority or Westminster City Council authorise a person to operate amplified noise equipment.
382.This definition of a prohibited activity applies to the entire Part. Therefore any time that the use of amplified noise equipment has been authorised, it is not a prohibited activity.
383.Subsections (4), (5) and (7) define “amplified noise equipment”, “relevant authority” and “sleeping equipment”.
384.Subsection (6) makes it clear that tents or other structures erected in the controlled area before these provisions come into force, or sleeping equipment placed in the controlled area before these provisions come into force, are covered by these provisions.
385.Subsection (8) sets out the offence and penalty for a person who fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with a direction.
Section 144: Directions under section 143: further provision
386.Subsection (1) provides that where a direction is given requiring a person to cease doing a prohibited activity, it may also include a direction requiring the person not to start doing that activity again after having ceased it.
387.Subsections (2) and (3) provide that a direction requiring a person not to start doing a prohibited activity has effect for a period specified by the constable or authorised officer which may be no longer than 90 days. If no time limit is specified, the direction remains in force for 90 days beginning with the day on which it is given.
388.Subsections (4) and (5) set out the condition in which a direction can be given to a person to cease operating, or not to start operating, any amplified noise equipment. The direction may be given only where it appears to a constable or authorised officer that the person operating or about to operate the equipment is producing (or will produce) an audible sound that other persons in or in the vicinity of the controlled area can hear or are likely to hear.
Section 145: Power to seize property
389.Subsection (1) enables a constable or authorised officer to seize and retain prohibited items in the controlled area, where it appears that an item is being, or has been, used in connection with the commission of an offence of breaching a direction under section 143.
390.Subsection (2) enables a constable to seize and retain prohibited items beyond the controlled area where it appears that an item has been used in connection with the commission of such an offence.
391.Subsection (4) provides a constable with the power to use reasonable force if necessary in exercising a power of seizure.
392.Subsection (5) ensures that the property is properly returned to the person from whom it was seized (unless the court orders its forfeiture: see section 146). Subsection (6) provides for situations where the person from whom property is seized is not known; it may be returned to any other person appearing to have rights in the property, or otherwise the property can be disposed of after 90 days from the time it was seized.
Section 146: Power of court on conviction
393.Section 146 empowers the court, upon the conviction of a person for the offence set out in section 143(8), to order forfeiture of the item which was used in the commission of the offence and make any appropriate order which has the purpose of preventing the defendant from engaging in prohibited activities in the controlled area. This order could include prohibiting the defendant from returning to the controlled area for a particular period.
Section 147: Authorisation for operation of amplified noise equipment
394.Subsection (1) gives the Greater London Authority and Westminster City Council the ability to authorise a person to operate amplified noise equipment in the controlled area.
395.Subsection (2) requires a person to apply for authorisation to the responsible authority. The application must be made to the authority which has control of the area in which the individual wishes to use the equipment.
396.Subsections (3) to (8) set out what the Greater London Authority and Westminster City Council may and must do in relation to processing and considering applications, including setting the period to which an authorisation applies, the imposition of any conditions, the varying of conditions and the withdrawal of an authorisation.
Section 148: Meaning of “authorised officer” and “responsible authority”
397.Section 148 defines an authorised officer and responsible authority for the purposes of Part 3. The responsible authority for the central garden of Parliament Square (as defined in section 142) is the Greater London Authority. The responsible authority for other land, that is, the adjoining footways, is Westminster City Council. On the map in Annex A, the Greater London Authority area is lightly hatched and the Westminster City Council area is more densely hatched.
Section 149: Effect of Part on byelaws
398.This section ensures that the provisions do not result in the same behaviour being criminalised twice. It does this by providing that any byelaws which have the effect of prohibiting or restricting the already prohibited activity in the controlled area cease to have effect (to the extent of the overlap) when the provisions come into force. The section also provides that the powers of the Greater London Authority and Westminster City Council to enact byelaws are limited so as to prevent any dual criminality in relation to any particular activity that is a prohibited activity for the purposes of Part 3. The Greater London Authority has the power to make byelaws under section 385 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 in order to secure the proper management of Parliament Square Garden. Westminster City Council has the power to make byelaws under section 235 of the Local Government Act 1972 for good rule and government and the suppression of nuisances.
