Organised beggars 'work to a rota' at major West Midlands junction

Beggars at major Walsall junction work to a rota according to the leader of the council. Commuters who use the ring road junction with Lichfield Street near Walsall Arboretum, will be familiar with individuals lingering here.

Council leader Garry Perry said that while some beggars are genuine, the ones stationed at this junction are ‘organised’ and have been witnessed doing a shift handover. Cllr Perry said they have places to live, and if any didn’t, they would be offered accommodation by the council’s street teams.

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He made the remarks on-air in an interview with BBC West Midlands presenter Kath Stanczyszyn. Cllr Perry said: “Businesses, traders and residents are fearing the affects of organised begging. There are genuine cases within that, however, in certain locations, such as the junction by Walsall Arboretum, it's organised and there's a rota and people have witnessed the change over.

"These individuals do have places to live and those who haven't would be offered it anyway. They’re winding themselves in and out of the traffic.

"Sometimes they are threatening toward individuals who don’t want to donate. We are trying through relevant laws to have a public space court order banning the individuals.”

Also on-air, leader of Walsall Council’s labour party, councillor Matt Ward, said: “We’ve heard these kinds of comments before from previous leaders about tackling the beggars, but the problem has got worse. It isn’t just at the traffic lights, it’s down the high street, in the shop doorways. People should feel safe coming into Walsall but it’s simply not happening.”

A Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) is a court order that gives councils the power to impose restrictions in a specific public space to tackle anti-social behaviour. Councillor Perry said several PSPOs have been put in place this year, but getting one isn’t ‘straightforward’ and can take up to six months to secure.

He said: “It’s not as straight forward as saying I want to do it now, then do it, you have to go through a process. You have to outline a boundary which the individuals can operate outside of. These individuals are working outside of the boundary. It’s a very challenging issue.”

The leader called on members of the public to come forward with evidence to support the council in securing future court orders.