The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Effort to understand causes of begging in Fair City.
Initiative launched in an effort to understand why beggars have become more prevalent on streets
A joint initiative aimed at addressing the root causes of begging on the streets of Perth has been launched.
Police Scotland is teaming up with Perth and Kinross Council and various other agencies in an effort to understand what has driven a perceived increase in begging in the city centre.
The move was revealed when councillor Ann Gaunt tackled Chief Superintendent Paul Anderson at the authority’s community safety committee on the issue on behalf of local traders.
“I know there is a problem in the centre, particularly around Ropemakers Close, I wondered what powers the police have to move them on,” she asked.
Mr Anderson of D Division (Tayside) told the meeting that begging was not an offence as such, unless local authorities passed by-laws, as had been done in some English cities.
“If it becomes more aggressive it may stray into anti-social behaviour, we will deal with it when there is a safety issue,” he said.
Mr Anderson said that there had not been an appetite to criminalise begging locally and the efforts which are to be made were more about helping people and tackling the social issues which led to people begging.
Substance abuse was sometimes a factor and he said as part of the drive to help the situation community wardens were engaging with the beggars as “the police are not normally their favourite people”.
Roddy Ross, of the council’s Safer Communities Team, said that passive begging had become part of the streetscape of many cities and he favoured attempting to help rather than criminalise those involved.
Spelling out the aims of the initiative, he told the meeting: “We are trying to dislodge them from the lifestyle and get them in to more fruitful pursuits.”
Chief Inspector Maggie Pettigrew, area commander for Perth and Kinross, agreed that they should take a “holistic approach ” to begging, treating it as a social issue.
Councillor Heather Stewart, who represents a city centre ward and also lives centrally, welcomed the efforts being made to tackle something that was often raised with her.
It was recently claimed that failure to tackle the issue is undermining Perth’s efforts to grow tourism.
We are trying to dislodge them from the lifestyle and get them in to more fruitful pursuits. RODDY ROSS SAFER COMMUNITIES TEAM