Tim Passmore in Suffolk welcomes the new Respect Orders

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has announced plans for so-called "Respect Orders" which will give councils and the police the power to ban persistent offenders from town centres and officers the freedom to arrest anyone breaching their order.

A two year jail term could be imposed on anyone breaching an order, while courts could also hand out unlimited fines, order unpaid work or impose a curfew on rule breakers.

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The respect orders have been compared to the Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) brought in by the last Labour government under then Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper (Image: Jordan Pettitt)

Figures from the UKCrimeStats website show that in September there were 352 anti-social behaviour offences in the county, compared with 653 in the same month last year, 2023.

Meanwhile, in August there were 425 of these crimes, while in August 2023, the figure was 795 anti-social behaviour offences.

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Tim Passmore, Suffolk’s police and crime commissioner, said: “The introduction of new powers to combat anti-social behaviour is welcome news.

“Disruptive and inconsiderate behaviour should never be tolerated as the impact can cause absolute misery to communities. 

“Suffolk has a good track record of tackling anti-social behaviour.  

"At our accountability meeting on Friday, the constabulary showed significant reductions in recorded levels, but we are not complacent.

“Vigorous and timely enforcement by the relevant authorities, which will not always be the police, is crucial and the culprits need to understand a failure to comply with the order will have severe consequences for them.

“Removing inconsiderate and yobbish behaviour from our towns and villages will benefit us all – I look forward to the Respect Order implementation as quickly as possible."