A new way for communities to tackle antisocial behaviour in England and Wales came into effect with very little fanfare on Monday.
Respect Orders can be handed out by police and local councils – but they may also be wielded by a broader range of authorities, including housing association landlords and transit networks.
Those hit with one of the orders can face a range of community-based punishments, including curfews or bans from certain areas.
And breaching them is a criminal offence, which can result in up to two years in prison.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: ‘This delivers on a commitment we made to the British people in our manifesto.
‘And, most importantly, those who make life a misery for others will now face the consequences of their actions.’
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What is a Respect Order?
Respect Orders were first floated by then-leader of the opposition Keir Starmer in a March 2023 speech at Port Vale FC.
He described them as ‘anti-social behaviour orders with teeth’ and told vandals and fly-tippers ‘you had better be prepared to clear up your mess’.
To receive one, people ‘must have engaged in, or threatened to engage in, conduct that has caused, or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress’, the Home Office says.
That broad definition has previously troubled Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights, who warned it ‘risks sweeping up less serious matters along with behaviour that demands a legal response’.
In a report published last year, the committee added: ‘This can disproportionately affect vulnerable groups and result in measures being taken that interfere with human rights to an unjustified extent.’
People who have been handed a Respect Order might be banned from town centres or prevented from drinking in hotspots like local parks.
They may also be told to carry out a certain number of hours of volunteering, or tackle the root causes of their behaviour by attending alcohol treatment or anger management courses.
Details of the orders will be uploaded to the Police National Computer, so officers can look up someone who is being anti-social and arrest them if they’re in breach.
Doesn’t this sound a bit familiar?
The new measure is inevitably being compared to the anti-social behaviour order (ASBO) introduced by Tony Blair.
After all, Keir Starmer directly made the comparison when he first proposed the move at Port Vale.
But the Home Office has been keen to stress the differences between Respect Orders and ASBOs, which were scrapped in England and Wales by the Tory-Lib Dem coalition government in 2014.
A key difference, they say, is that Respect Orders can compel offenders to take positive action such as attending courses to improve their behaviour.
The new orders will also only be applied to those aged 18 and over. ASBOs could be handed to anyone 10 and over, and became heavily associated with misbehaving youngsters.
How have people reacted?
Joanne Thomas, the general secretary of retail and distribution union Usdaw, said she hopes Respect Orders ‘will be successful in changing the criminal behaviour that is blighting our shops and communities’.
She said: ‘It is our hope that these new measures will help turn the tide on shop theft and give retail staff the safe working environment they deserve.’
Temporary Deputy Chief Constable Catherine Akehurst, anti-social behaviour lead on the National Police Chiefs’ Council, welcomed the move, saying such behaviour can ‘undermine a sense of safety in communities, erode pride in neighbourhoods, and diminish overall quality of life’.
She added: ‘This new tool will enable swift enforcement against prolific offenders, while prioritising rehabilitation and support to break cycles of criminal and anti-social behaviour.’
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