Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions he has had with (a) police forces and (b) local authorities on the (a) effectiveness of current legislation on and (b) adequacy of resources for encouraging responsible dog ownership in public areas.

The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides the police and local authorities with a range of flexible tools and powers, including Community Protection Notices, Civil Injunctions and Public Spaces Protection Orders, that they can use to tackle irresponsible dog ownership.

Appropriate use of the powers is a local decision for police, local authorities and other agencies; however, the Home Office regularly engages with police and local authority partners to discuss the effectiveness of the legislation.

Set against our Safer Streets Mission, this government is committed to reducing anti-social behaviour (ASB). We are making changes to some of the powers in the 2014 Act via the Crime and Policing Bill, introduced to Parliament last month, to ensure the powers – based on engagement with police and local authorities – are as effective as possible. These changes include increasing the upper limit for a fixed penalty notice for breaches of Community Protection Notices and Public Spaces Protection Orders from £100 to £500 to act as a stronger deterrent to ASB.