Questioning the new Deputy Mayor for Policing on her record
On the Police and Crime Committee last week, we held a confirmation hearing for the new Deputy Mayor for Policing, Sophie Linden. She comes from Hackney Council, which tried to introduce a controversial Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) last year. This proposed, without proper public engagement, to prohibit a wide range of activities in an area of the borough including rough sleeping.
This caused a public outcry – PSPOs are typically enforced by fines, followed by criminal action if these are not paid, and how could people who are destitute be expected to pay a fine? The orders were abandoned, and on the committee I wanted to know what the new Deputy Mayor had learned from this experience. Watch my question, and the answer, in the video below.
More on the hearing: