Part 3: Public order Section 73: Imposing conditions on public processions
This section amends section 12 of the 1986 Act to broaden the circumstances in which conditions can be imposed on a public assembly in England and Wales, and clarifies the meaning of "serious disruption to the life of the community" and "serious disruption to the activities of an organisation which are carried out in the vicinity of a public procession".
	Subsection (2) amends section 12(1) by broadening the circumstances in which conditions may be imposed on those organising or taking part in a procession to include where the senior police officer reasonably believes that the noise generated by persons taking part in the procession may have a significant relevant impact on persons in the vicinity or may result in serious disruption to the activities of an organisation which are carried on in the vicinity of the procession.
	Subsection (3) provides for a two-stage test of what is a significant relevant impact on persons in the vicinity. Firstly, new subsection (2D) of section 12 sets out an exhaustive list of the cases in which the noise generated by persons taking part in a public procession may have an impact on persons in its vicinity. These include where it may cause persons of reasonable firmness with the characteristics of persons likely to be in the vicinity to suffer impacts such as alarm or distress. Secondly, new subsection (2E) of section 12 provides that when considering whether that impact is significant, the senior police officer must have regard to the likely number of people in the vicinity who may experience an impact, the likely duration of that impact, and the likely intensity of that impact.
	Subsection (3) also inserts new subsections (2A) to (2C) into section 12 of the 1986 Act which make provision about the meaning of "serious disruption to the life of the community" such that it includes where the procession may result in a significant delay to the delivery of a time-sensitive product or disruption to the delivery of an essential service, and "serious disruption to the activities of an organisation" includes where the noise generated by a procession can reasonably prevent persons associated with the organisation in question from carrying out their activities.
	Subsection (4) inserts new subsections (12) to (15) into section 12 of the 1986 Act, which provide the Secretary of State with a power by regulations to amend new section 12(2A) to (2C) to make provision about the meaning of "serious disruption to the life of the community" and "serious disruption to the activities of an organisation which are carried on in the vicinity of a public procession".
	Subsection (5) places a duty on the Secretary of State to prepare and publish a report on the operation of section 12 of the 1986 Act as amended by section 73 of this Act; such a report must be published and laid before Parliament within two years of the commencement of section 73.