Guidance

Parish councils: change or revoke a dog control order

How parish councils can change or revoke an existing dog control order and the changes they can make.

• From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
• Published: 13 January 2015

This guidance was withdrawn on 13 February 2020

Parish councils can no longer change or revoke a dog control order. See guidance on dog control measures for local authorities.

If you’re a parish council, you can change or revoke existing dog control orders (DCOs).

You can no longer make new DCOs, or add a new offence to an existing DCO.

From October 2017, existing DCOs will become public space protection orders (PSPOs).

What you can change in DCOs

You can change any of the following:

• the number of dogs any one person can walk at a time
• the area that a DCO covers
• when the rules of the DCO must be obeyed
• whether dogs need to be on leads and how long the leads must be

You can’t change a DCO to create a new offence. For example, you can’t extend a DCO to control dog fouling if it was originally set up to cover leash requirements.

How to change or revoke a dog control order

Allow at least 56 days to change or revoke a DCO.

You must:

1. Consult your district council.
2. If the DCO applies to open access land, consult the local access authority and the local access forum.
3. Publish a notice of your proposed changes in a local newspaper, including all of the following:
   • the area affected - and if it will apply to access land you must say so
   • the changes you’re making
   • where people can see a map of the area (if the order refers to a map)
   • when the DCO applies
   • a postal and email address for comments (you must allow at least 28 days for comments)
4. Publish a further notice in the same local paper if you make changes due to comments received.
5. Make the amendment order, giving at least 14 days’ notice of when it will come into force.
6. Publish a further notice at least 7 days before the order comes into force in the same newspaper and on your website, saying all of the following:
   • that the order has been made
   • where it can be inspected
   • where people can get copies
7. If the order applies to access land, send a notice at least 7 days before it comes into force to both the:
   • access authority
   • local access forum
8. Put up a sign in the area affected at least 7 days before the changes come into effect, if practicable.

Once you have revoked a DCO, you can’t reinstate it.

Public space protection orders

District councils (but not parish councils) can now set up public space protection orders (PSPOs), which can cover the same offences as DCOs.

From October 2017, existing DCOs will become PSPOs.

Published 13 January 2015