Respect Orders start today: Croydon Council can ask a court to ban repeat adult antisocial offenders from set activities. Breach can mean two years in prison.

A new court order aimed at adults who keep causing antisocial behaviour comes into force today, Monday 26 October, and Croydon Council is one of the bodies that can use it.

Respect Orders let a court ban an adult from specific activities linked to their behaviour. The example the government gives is a ban on drinking in public on a particular high street. An order can also come with positive requirements, such as a duty to go through drug or alcohol treatment.

Breaking an order is a criminal offence. The penalties run from arrest and fines to community sentences and, in the most serious cases, up to two years in prison.

The news came to us from the office of Sarah Jones, MP for Croydon West, who is also Minister for Policing and Crime at the Home Office (sarah-jones.org).

Who can use them

The orders are for police, local authorities and housing associations, the release says, and are designed for “relentless offenders whose ASB is impacting local neighbourhoods”. It names Croydon Council among the councils getting the stronger powers.

The application form courts will use, Form N540, was published on GOV.UK today, alongside a draft order form, N541.

The government says the orders “fill a significant gap in the previous ASB powers, giving local agencies stronger enforcement capability to tackle the most relentless adult ASB offenders and provide relief to affected communities and victims”.

They come from the Crime and Policing Act 2026, which the government describes as “the biggest package of measures on crime and policing for decades”.

What the minister said

Sarah Jones said:

“Everyone deserves to feel safe in their local neighbourhood, and nobody should have to put up with persistent antisocial behaviour that blights their community.

“Respect Orders will give police, local authorities and their partners stronger tools to tackle relentless adult offenders, protect victims and restore confidence in our streets and public spaces. By combining clear consequences for unacceptable behaviour with the opportunity to address its underlying causes, we can take more effective action against those who repeatedly cause harm.

“This is about delivering on our commitment to safer streets and stronger communities, ensuring that persistent antisocial behaviour is tackled and that residents can feel proud of and safe in the places they call home.”

What it means for you

A Respect Order is aimed at a named person, not a place. That makes it different from the public space protection orders Croydon already uses, which make certain behaviour an offence for anyone inside a mapped area. The council is consulting on renewing the Thornton Heath order and wants to extend them to every park and eight district high streets (our report).

An order is made by a court, on an application from the police, the council or a housing association. If antisocial behaviour by the same adult keeps affecting your street, the route is to report it to whichever of those is responsible: the council for public spaces and its own homes, your housing association if you rent from one, and the police where it is a crime.

The release does not say how many orders Croydon Council expects to seek or when it will make its first application.