National Strategies

The Cleaner Safer Greener Programme brings together central departments with policy responsibilities that have an impact, directly or indirectly, on public space. Priorities for the programme are:

Creating attractive and welcoming parks, play areas and public spaces
Improving the physical fabric and infrastructure of places
Making places cleaner and maintaining them better
Making places safer and tackling anti-social behaviour
Involving and empowering local people and communities
Catering for children and young people and tackling inequalities.

Public Service Agreements (PSAs)

PSAs set out the key improvements the public can expect from government expenditure. Each PSA describes a department's main aim, objectives and performance targets which help it focus its activities.

Communities and Local Government’s performance targets for the 2005 to 2008 spending review period include PSA 8:

"To lead the delivery of cleaner, safer, greener public spaces and improve the quality of the built environment in deprived areas and across the country with measurable improvements by 2008"

Communities and Local Government

In October 2006, Communities and Local Government published Strong and Prosperous Communities – The Local Government White Paper. The paper sets out proposals to give a stronger role for councils to lead their communities, shape neighbourhoods and bring local public services together. It includes a new framework for local authorities to work with other public service providers and new duties for them to work together to meet local needs and drive up service standards.

Business Improvement Districts (BIDs)

A BID is a precisely defined geographical area of a town, city or other commercial district where ratepayers have voted to invest collectively in local improvements in addition to those undertaken by local government. For more information go to www.ukbids.org

Managing the evening and late night economy

In 1996 Planning Policy Guidance 6 (PPG6) included a recommendation that larger city centres create distinct quarters, or zones, for leisure and entertainment uses. This helped to address concerns that town centres were relatively vibrant in the day but ‘ghost towns’ at night.

With this expansion came problems associated with a perceived deterioration in the quality of the local environment and an increase in anti-social behaviour and disorder. The Licensing Act 2003 charged local authorities with making policies to prevent crimes and disorder, improve public safety, prevent nuisance and protect children.

Legislation was also introduced which provided additional powers such as:

Fixed penalty notices
Dispersal Orders
Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs)
Crack house closures; and many others

Planning Policy Statement 6 (PPS6 – which updated PPG 6) reaffirmed government commitment to promoting the vitality and viability of town centres. For more information go to
www.communities.gov.uk, www.homeoffice.gov.uk or www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk