Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill — Clause 56 — Imposing Conditions on Public Assemblies Such as Protests — 25 Apr 2022 at 18:15

The majority of MPs voted to empower the police to impose conditions on seriously disruptively noisy public assemblies such as protests, to remove causing "serious unease" as an example of such serious disruption and to require a report on the operation of this law.

MPs were considering the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.^[1][2]

The motion supported by a majority of MPs in this vote was:

• That this House insists on its disagreement with the Lords in their Amendment 80, insists on its Amendments 80A, 80B, 80C, 80D, 80E, 80F and 80H to the words restored to the Bill by its disagreement with that Amendment, disagrees with the Lords in their Amendment 80J instead of the words left out by that Amendment but proposes additional Amendment (a) to the words restored to the Bill by its disagreement with the Lords in their Amendment 80

Lords amendment 80^[4], which was rejected by the majority of MPs, in this vote stated:

• Leave out Clause 56

The explanatory notes to Lords amendment 80^[5] state:

• Lords Amendment 80* would remove Clause 56 which amends section 14 of the 1986 Act to broaden the range of circumstances in which conditions can be imposed on a public assembly in England and Wales, allow for any type of condition to be imposed on such a public assembly, and provide the Secretary of State a power to make provision about the meaning of “serious disruption to the life of the community” and “serious disruption to the activities of an organisation which are carried on in the vicinity of a public assembly”.

Clause 56, which was supported by the majority of MPs this vote, provided for police powers to place conditions on seriously disruptively noisy public assemblies such as protests. In England and Wales the conditions available for the police to set on assemblies were prescribed in the clause to be: "such conditions as appear to the officer necessary to prevent the disorder, damage, disruption, impact or intimidation", and in Scotland the conditions relate to the location, number of people and and duration of the protest, as "necessary to prevent the disorder, damage, disruption or intimidation".

Amendments 80A, 80B, 80C, 80D, 80E and 80F were supported by the majority of MPs in this vote.

Amendment 80A set out additional circumstances in which the noise generated by persons taking part in a public assembly, such as a protest, may be considered to have a relevant impact on persons in the vicinity including "significant delay to the delivery of a time-sensitive product" to consumers or "prolonged disruption of access to any essential goods or any essential service", including "money, food, water, energy or fuel", communications systems, places of worship, transport facilities, educational institutions and health services.^[6]

Amendments 80B-E which were supported by a majority of MPs in this vote related to placing the criteria for setting conditions on public assemblies such as protests into primary legislation, and enabling them to be amended by secondary legislation. Amendment 80F broadened the power to make regulations to encompass making consequential amendments.^[6]

Amendment 80H, which was supported by the majority of MPs in this vote, stated:^[6]

• Page 49, line 1, leave out “serious unease”

This impacted Clause 56 of the Bill titled: Imposing conditions on public assemblies, removing the suggestion that noise from a public assembly such as a protest may be such that it warrants the police to impose conditions on that procession, if it may cause "serious unease" to persons of reasonable firmness with the characteristics of persons likely to be in the vicinity.

Amendment 80J which was rejected by the majority of MPs in this vote set out circumstances in which the noise generated by persons taking part in a public assembly, such as a protest, may be considered to be seriously disruptive as including: "significant delay to the delivery of a time-sensitive product" to consumers or "prolonged disruption of access to any essential goods or any essential service", including "money, food, water, energy or fuel", communications systems, places of worship, transport facilities, educational institutions and health services.

Additional amendment (a), which was supported by the majority of MPs in this vote, stated:^[8]

• Page 49, line 34, at end insert—
• “(7) The Secretary of State must, before the end of the period of 2 years beginning with the day on which this section comes into force—
• (a) prepare and publish a report on the operation of the amendments to section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 made by this section, and
• (b) lay the report before Parliament.

The amendment requires a report on the provisions of the Bill empowering the police to impose conditions on seriously disruptively noisy public assemblies such as protests.

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• [1] Parliament's webpage on the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, Parliament.uk
• [2] Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, as introduced on 6 July 2021, Parliament.uk
• [3] Explanatory notes to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, as introduced on 6 July 2021, Parliament.uk
• [4] Lords amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, 23 March 2022, Parliament.uk
• [5] Explanatory notes to the Lords amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, 26 January 2022, Parliament.uk
• [6] Commons Insistence, Disagreement, Amendment in Lieu and Amendments to the Words So Restored to the Bill, Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, 25 April 2022, Parliament.uk
• [7] Lords amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, 26 January 2022, Parliament.uk
• [8] Amendment sheet for consideration of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, 22 April 2022, Parliament.uk

Debate in Parliament |