Glasgow City Council increases police patrols amid crackdown on busking in city centre

Glasgow City Council has announced increased police patrols as part of crackdown on busking in the city centre.

The council has revealed their action plan after a public consultation found that some street busking activities can “be intrusive or a nuisance” to people in the area.

Glasgow council said they regularly receive complaints from the public about what they see as “nuisance” street performing, and launched a survey to address the issue.

The council said it was one of the “biggest” consultation responses they received with over 2,700 people responding.

Around one in ten of the respondents said that the code of conduct should be enforced, something the council already has but cannot enforce.

Following “significant” interest from the public, the council has implemented immediate actions and are considering a number of other possible terms.

The immediate actions include the introduction of on-street signage in Buchanan Street promoting the busking code of conduct.

The council has also developed a new webpage with information related to busking that allows people to raise complaints for attendance by council Community Enforcement Officers (CEOs).

Alongside the new signage in Buchanan Street will be an enhanced presence of Police Scotland officers and CEOs over the summer months, with the aim of compliance through engagement.

The council added that recurring complaints and the identification of buskers and performers persistently breaching the code of conduct may result in stronger measures such as fixed penalty notices, confiscation of equipment and potential referral to the Procurator Fiscal’s Office.

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “Buskers and street performers are for many people a welcome feature of the city centre experience – and to make this experience as positive as possible, we asked for views on how this activity can best take place.

“The scale of the consultation responses received underlined support for these performers, but also indicated some issues which can impact on the quality of a visit to the city centre, as well as the experience of local residents, businesses and workers.

“In response to this, the council and its partners have identified a series of actions to help promote the buskers’ code of conduct and respond to instances where some do not respect the code.”