ASB powers are changing. Get the response ready.

What changes on 26 October?

The maximum is not the default. Choose a justified period or penalty. The fixed penalty limit is separate from any court fine. Legal start date; Changes to time limits; Fixed penalties.

Respect Orders start on the same date. There are also separate youth and housing injunctions, new closure powers for registered social housing providers, and extra duties to review unresolved ASB cases. These are explained below.

Existing injunctions do not turn into Respect Orders. Injunctions already granted, and applications already made, are protected by the transition rules. What happens to existing cases.

Respect Orders: stop the behaviour and require change

A Respect Order can tell an adult what they must stop doing and what they must do. A restriction might keep someone away from a location linked to intimidation. A requirement might involve a supervised activity to address their behaviour. Each condition needs evidence behind it; these are possible uses, not wording to copy into every application.

The police, council or another eligible organisation applies to the County Court or High Court. The person must be 18 or over. They do not need a criminal conviction.

The court must decide that it is more likely than not that the person has carried out, or threatens, behaviour causing or likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress. It must also decide that making the order is fair and appropriate to prevent ASB. The Act calls this “just and convenient”. Respect Order rules.

Assess the risks before applying. That includes harm to others, the person's own vulnerabilities and whether another response could prevent the behaviour. If the order requires an activity, there must be a named supervisor and evidence that the requirement is suitable and can be enforced. Work, education and other court orders must be accommodated as far as practicable. Respect Order rules, sections A1, D1 and J1.

Be specific about the behaviour, location and duration. Check that any service the person must attend actually exists and can accept them. An instruction they cannot follow is a poor starting point.

The maximum sentence for the breach offence is two years' imprisonment in the Crown Court. Respect Order rules, sections H1–I1; Arrest grounds and necessity.

Which power fits the problem?

Start with what is happening and who is being harmed. These powers are not steps on a ladder that must be climbed in order. Each has its own conditions.

CPN conditions and written warning; CPN breach and defences. Police, councils and designated persons can issue notices. The fixed penalty ceiling changes on 26 October.

Criminal Behaviour Orders; Public Spaces Protection Orders; Alcohol restrictions.

Youth and housing injunction rules. Both routes use the civil standard of proof and the “just and convenient” test.

Vehicle seizure has already changed. Since 29 June 2026, the previous warning requirement under section 59 has been removed. Officers still need reasonable grounds to believe the vehicle is being, or has been, used contrary to the careless-driving or off-road-driving provisions, and is causing or likely to cause public alarm, distress or annoyance. Noise alone does not establish that test. Vehicle seizure rules; June start date.

Longer powers do not mean every deadline changes

Dispersal: 72 hours for the person, 48 hours for the area. From 26 October, a uniformed constable can direct a person to leave for up to 72 hours where there are reasonable grounds to suspect their behaviour has contributed, or is likely to contribute, to harassment, alarm, distress, crime or disorder in the area. The direction must be necessary to reduce that risk. The inspector's written authorisation to use dispersal powers in the area still lasts no more than 48 hours. A direction issued while that authorisation is active can continue after it ends.

If a person's direction exceeds 48 hours, an inspector or above must review it as soon as reasonably practicable after the first 48 hours. Changes to time limits; Area authorisation; Individual direction.

Closure: the notice and the court order do different jobs. A notice temporarily restricts access to premises linked to nuisance or disorder. It cannot exclude the owner or people who normally live there. A court order can restrict their access, but the court must be satisfied that the more demanding conditions for an order are met and that closure is necessary.

From 26 October, police notices can last up to 48 hours, or 72 hours with superintendent authority. Registered social housing providers also gain closure powers for premises they own or manage. A court's closure order can last up to three months initially, extendable to six months in total if justified. Changes to time limits; Housing-provider closure powers; Closure notices; Closure orders.

Give someone responsibility for what happens next

Before officers use the new powers, the force's ASB lead should agree with councils, housing providers and legal services who prepares applications, supervises requirements and responds when an order is broken. Officers need access to the current order out of hours. Victims need to know who will contact them.

Record what the behaviour does to people's lives: lost sleep, fear of leaving home, threats and repeated disruption. Check vulnerabilities on both sides. Moving someone away from one street can move the problem elsewhere. Excluding someone from home can create an urgent housing or safeguarding need.

If repeated reports have not resolved the problem, explain the ASB Case Review. A victim or their representative can ask agencies to review their response where the local threshold is met. This examines what agencies have done; it is not an order against the person causing harm.

From 26 October, the local policing body, usually the Police and Crime Commissioner, has extra review and awareness duties. It must publish its procedure, promote the ASB Case Review and carry out a further review on a qualifying application where it considers the threshold was met. New review duties.

Set a date to check whether the behaviour has stopped, whether victims feel safer and whether the problem has moved. These are practical recommendations, not evidence that the new orders have already been shown to work better. Counting notices and orders tells us how much paperwork has been issued. The test is whether people can live without the harm that brought them to police.