Punt Touting Public Spaces Protection Order

Open for comments from 10 May 2023 to 4 June 2023.

A punt tour along the world-famous Cambridge College ‘Backs’ is one of the pleasures of a visit to Cambridge. Punt companies operate out of six authorised punt stations in Cambridge. Most authorised traders have signed up to our voluntary code of practice for the visitor industry which limits touting for customers to areas adjacent to their business.

In 2016, after hundreds of complaints were received about the behaviour of punt touts negatively impacting people’s experience when in the city centre, we created a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) to restrict where punt tours can be touted from.

We can make PSPOs under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

PSPOs were created to deal with problems in public spaces which have a negative impact on the local community’s quality of life. A PSPO does this by stopping certain activities in the area it covers. If someone refuses to stop doing the activity covered by the PSPO it is a criminal offence and they will be fined £75.

The current Public Spaces Protection Order (Touting) 2016 prohibits verbally touting, advertising, soliciting for customers or otherwise touting for a punt tour, the hire or use of punt boats (or similar craft) on the River Cam.

This includes touting for walking tours which include or involve a punt tour, the hire or use of punt boats (or similar craft) on the River Cam.

The PSPO prohibits touting in certain parts of the city centre, they are shown in red on this map and are referred to as the Restricted Areas:

• Read more about the Public Spaces Protection Order.

Punt operators are still allowed to sell punt tours from the 6 authorised locations which are also shown on the image above. These are:

• La Mimosa, on the corner of Jesus Green
• Quayside
• Trinity College, inside the college grounds
• The Mill Pond, on Silver Street
• Mill Lane
• The Granta mill pond, near Sheeps Green

This PSPO has been renewed twice since 2016 but is due to end on 14 September 2023. Before this date, we need to decide whether to renew the order, change it or allow it to end. A decision will be made at the Environment and Communities Scrutiny Committee on 29 June 2023.

To renew the PSPO the council needs to show that there is significant evidence that punt touting within the Restricted Areas will be problematic without the PSPO.

To change (or vary) the PSPO the council needs to show that there is evidence to change the spaces that are covered by the PSPO or that there is evidence to stop people behaving in other ways that have a negative impact on the local community.

To end (or discharge) the PSPO, we need to consult on the impact that discharging the order might have and look at whether this impact can be managed in other ways.

On 25 May 2018, we were granted an Injunction against named and unnamed parties from, essentially, engaging in unlicensed commercial punt operations, including touting, on council-owned land.

The table below shows the impact of both the PSPO and the Injunction on touting complaints since the start of available records (2006). The numbers suggests that the Injunction caused a greater reduction in the number of touting complaints than the PSPO.

Have your say

We want your opinions on the PSPO and any evidence you may have about punt touting in the Restricted Areas.

Please complete our survey. Your views will inform the Council’s decision on the future of the PSPO.

The link to the survey is located under the ‘About’ section.

Next steps

The results of this consultation will inform a committee report, which will go to the Environment and Community Scrutiny Committee on 29 June 2023.