FOI Request - Abortion Clinic Public Service Protection Orders

Request 101003626336

I’m writing to request information around Public Service Protection Orders that you may or may not have in place around abortion clinics in your area. These orders create buffer zones where protestors are banned from gathering. Some council areas have implemented these orders while they wait for the government to enforce a new laws created (but yet to be fully approved) in 2023 making protests within 150 of abortion clinics illegal. I’m trying to find out how many councils have enforced their own PSPOs and how much this has cost them.

With this in mind, please could you provide me with the following information:

1)  Do you currently have a Public Service Protection Orders in place around any of the abortion clinics in your area, if so, how many PSPOs do you currently have in place.

2)  In the last 5 years, how many PSPOs outside abortion clinics have you had in place? Please provide the yearly breakdown.

3)  In the last 5 years, (including 2024), how much money has the council spent on PSPOs outside abortion clinics? Please provide the yearly breakdown.  

4)  If you do not have any PSPOs in place outside any of the abortion clinics in your area, please can you tell me whether that is because:

a.  We do not have any abortion clinics in our area
b.  We do not have the budget to implement PSPOs
c.  We thought that the new law announced in May 2023 creating buffer zones, would have been implemented already
d.  Other : (please provide other reasoning)

Response 13-09-2024

Not held.We do not have any abortion clinics in Moray. Information that is not held falls under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 - Information not held.