The Town Police Clauses Act 1847 is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

(10 & 11 Vict c. 89). The statute remains in force in both the United Kingdom (except Scotland) and the Republic of Ireland, and is frequently used by local councils to close roads to allow public events such as processions or street parties to take place. The Act is also used to regulate the local

hackney carriage A hackney or hackney carriage (also called a cab, black cab, hack or London taxi) is a carriage or car for hire. A hackney of a more expensive or high class was called a remise. A symbol of London and Britain, the black taxi is a common ...

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choic ...

and private-hire trade in many areas. It deals with a range of street obstructions and nuisances, for example, it makes it illegal to perform certain actions in a public street or other thoroughfare, such as hanging washing, beating carpets, and flying kites, although many of those clauses were repealed in 2015. Historically, it was highly significant legislating against

indecent exposure Indecent exposure is the deliberate public exposure by a person of a portion of their body in a manner contrary to local standards of appropriate behavior. Laws and social attitudes regarding indecent exposure vary significantly in different ...

, indecent acts, obscene publications, and prostitution.

Background

In 1847, the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

Select Committee on

Private Bills Proposed bills are often categorized into public bills and private bills. A public bill is a proposed law which would apply to everyone within its jurisdiction. This is unlike a private bill which is a proposal for a law affecting only a single p ...

presented a report. In 1842 to 1843, the average number of private bills passed was 161, rising to an average of 347 from 1845 to 1846. By 21 July 1847, the House of Commons, 490 petitions for private bills were received that year. Already in place, resulting from early reports by the select committee, new mechanisms were in place to deal more efficiently with private bills. Noting was that much of the business the House of Commons was dealing with were numerous

private bills Proposed bills are often categorized into public bills and private bills. A public bill is a proposed law which would apply to everyone within its jurisdiction. This is unlike a private bill which is a proposal for a law affecting only a single p ...

, which due to the clauses they contained, were essentially

public bills Proposed bills are often categorized into public bills and private bills. A public bill is a proposed law which would apply to everyone within its jurisdiction. This is unlike a private bill which is a proposal for a law affecting only a single p ...

. Drawing up private bills to deal with public functions had consequences. The select committee wrote: To provide uniformity in legislation in different geographical areas, to reduce the number of private bills about public functions, and to reduce expense, the select committee proposed eight public acts, each dealing with a different topic: * Markets and fairs *

Gasworks A gasworks or gas house is an industrial plant for the production of flammable gas. Many of these have been made redundant in the developed world by the use of natural gas, though they are still used for storage space. Early gasworks Coal ...

* Public commissioners *

Waterworks Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...

* Harbour, docks and piers * Town improvements * Cemeteries * Police The police legislation was enacted as the Town Police Clauses Act 1847.

Original purposes of the act

The original Act covered six areas, * Police regulations and administration * Obstructions and nuisances, including several significant offences about

, indecent acts, and obscene publications * Fires and administration of

fire fighting Firefighting is the act of extinguishing or preventing the spread of unwanted fires from threatening human lives and destroying property and the environment. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter. Firefighters typicall ...

* Regulating places of public resort, for example, coffee shops and refreshment house used as meeting places for

thieves Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...

and prostitutes, places for bear baiting and

cock fighting A cockfight is a blood sport, held in a ring called a cockpit. The history of raising fowl for fighting goes back 6,000 years. The first documented use of the ''word'' gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or ente ...

* Public bathing * Hackney carriages

Provisions still in force

Many clauses of the act are still in force; these are provisions dealing with * Preventing obstructions during street processions * Prohibiting stage carriages from diverting from a prescribed route * Powers enabling the building of pounds for stray animals * Impounding stray cattle, selling them, and unlawfully releasing them from a pound * A significant number of nuisances and obstructions to the highway * Violent and indecent behaviour in a police station * Accidentally allowing chimney fires * Keeping places for animal fighting, baiting, or worrying them, for example bear baiting and cock fighting * Hackney carriages The act is still relevant to policing the highway. Many offences in the act relating to nuisance and obstruction in the street, and the act is also a means of regulating road closures for special events. The law controls the use of

fireworks Fireworks are a class of Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a l ...

, and the wanton discharge of firearms in the street. A significant role is the licensing of hackney carriages. It also prohibits the wanton furious driving of a horse and carriage in the street. A role of the Act is to regulate peoples' behaviour. It remains an offence to be disorderly or insulting in a police station. Until 2003, the Act was one piece of legislation against

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

in a range of premises, including hotels. Although superseded by other laws a conviction for indecency, deriving from the Act, is on a list of offences which can be used to identify those who present a risk, or potential risk, to children.

References

External links

Town Police Clauses Act 1847
(as enacted)
Town Police Clauses Act 1847
(as currently in force, published on legislation.gov.uk)
Irish Statute Book
{{UK legislation United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1847 Police legislation in the United Kingdom Sex laws Sex crimes in England Sexual misconduct Obscenity law Book censorship in the United Kingdom Prostitution law in the United Kingdom Baiting (blood sport) Cockfighting Transport law in the United Kingdom Anti-social behaviour

Background

Original purposes of the act

Provisions still in force

See also

References

External links