A CRACKDOWN on busking, begging and rough sleeping has been relaxed by Oxford City Council following legal intervention.

A redraft of the council’s controversial Public Spaces Protection Order now means “aggressive begging” rather than “persistent begging” will be targeted.

It defined “aggressive” as outside cash points or when a person is made to feel intimidated or harassed.

In June, Oxford City Council delayed its decision for further restrictions after a legal opinion from the National Council for Civil Liberties criticised the order.

In theory the order could have also meant buskers were fined for not smiling, and sleeping in public toilets banned in the city centre.

Busking will now only be banned if it is deemed a nuisance.

Professional busker Jonny Walker, who runs the Keep Streets Live campaign which protects the rights of buskers around the country, welcomed the changes but said more needs to be done.

He said: “It’s a step forward from when you could have been fined for not smiling enough, but I’m unhappy that busking is still mentioned in the order at all.

“This is part of an agenda to privatise the public realm ahead of freedom of expression in the city centre.”

He was concerned how the order would be enforced.

He said: “The order will address nuisance, but one person’s nuisance is another’s entertainment.

“It is just making it easier to prosecute and hand out spot fines – where is the due process?”

A redrafted report stated that individuals rarely beg for money just once and by its nature it would be persistent, so the order should target “aggressive begging” instead.

Charities such as Crisis, The Gatehouse and Oxford Homeless Pathways aired their concerns over the original order.

Chief executive of Oxford Homeless Pathways, Lesley Dewhurst, was pleased that her charity’s comments had been listened to.

She said: “We are very pleased that the wording has been changed from persistent begging to aggressive begging and that the part about rough sleeping has been left out altogether.

“We are happy with what’s in the order and I’m glad they listened to our views.”

Oxford City Council leader Bob Price said the move was not a legal climbdown but was changed to offer clarification. He said: “It was about providing more evidence and being more precise, making it clear that with buskers it was about nuisance and not about playing music.

“With begging, it is making it clear that the order should make it less ‘in your face’ for people.”

Cllr Price also said the order could encourage homeless people to make use of the variety of support services on offer.