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24 Mar 2003 : Column 11—continued
Under-age Drinkers
5. Andy Burnham (Leigh): What recent advice he has given to police forces regarding confiscation of alcohol from under-age drinkers. [104111]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Bob Ainsworth): The Licensing Bill now before Parliament will, if it is enacted, amend existing legislation to allow the police to confiscate all alcohol, including sealed and opened containers, from young people who are drinking in public places. Guidance will be issued on the extended power before its commencement.
Andy Burnham : May I tell the Minister that many of my constituents are sick and tired of waking up to smashed bus shelters on a Saturday morning and to the other hallmarks of an under-age drinking spree? I welcome the measures introduced in the Licensing Bill, but may I ask him to urge all police forces in England—especially the Greater Manchester police—to make full use of the new powers that are being given to them? May I further ask him to look carefully at what more can be done to clamp down on off-licences that knowingly and persistently sell to under-18s?
Mr. Ainsworth: I want to pay tribute to my hon. Friend, who I know has campaigned long and hard for the Licensing Bill and other measures seeking to bear down on the problem of under-age drinking and some of the problems that flow from it. He will be aware that in the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001, we strengthened the law to place a clear duty on retailers to take positive steps to ensure that their customers were over 18, and also placed test purchasing on a statutory footing. We are as committed as he has been over a long period to clamping down on under-age drinking and the antisocial behaviour that sometimes goes with it.
Bob Spink (Castle Point): But the police did have the power to remove alcohol from under-age drinkers until the Government removed it in 2001. Will the Minister explain why the Government removed the power? When the power is returned to the police, will he ensure that they will have the power to remove cans of alcohol—whether open or not—held by people over 18 who might supply them to people under 18? My original private Member's Bill gave the police that power.
Mr. Ainsworth: The measures in the Licensing Bill will do precisely that. I have listened to the hon. Gentleman continue to campaign for something that he knows to be on its way, agreed to and making legislative progress, so I congratulate him on his political opportunism.
Glenda Jackson (Hampstead and Highgate): While I welcome the measures inherent in the Bill, could more
be done if the Government approached the alcohol and brewing industries and asked them to be infinitely more selective with their advertising? In many instances, such advertising blurs the line between drinks suitable for those above the legal age of drinking and drinks suitable for those below it.
Mr. Ainsworth: My hon. Friend is right that much could be done by the industry. Regular meetings are held between the industry and Ministers and we try to work with it to improve the code of practice that applies to advertising. Some progress has been made through our direct contact with organisations such as the Portman Group, but I do not pretend that the situation is nearly as good as it could be. I assure my hon. Friend that we will continue to encourage the industry to advertise responsibly.
Rural Policing
6. Miss Anne McIntosh (Vale of York): What recent representations he has received on the level of rural policing. [104112]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Hilary Benn): The Home Office has received a number of representations about the funding of rural policing. Following consultation on the police funding formula last summer, it was decided to retain the rural policing fund. Police authorities in sparsely populated areas will this year share £30 million.
Miss McIntosh : Is the Minister aware that this year's budget for North Yorkshire police is a standstill budget and that there is a shortfall of £8.2 million? That meant that the police precept required a massive increase to enable rural policing to continue at the same level as the previous year. The Minister will know that the Vale of York is equidistant between Menwith Hill and Fylingdales and that a sizeable demonstration at Menwith Hill on Saturday required the presence of six police forces in addition to North Yorkshire police. That will have a big impact on the North Yorkshire police budget and might jeopardise rural policing in the forthcoming year. What additional resources will he make available?
Hilary Benn: I am, indeed, aware of the issue that the hon. Lady raises in relation to the policing of demonstrations. As she will know, North Yorkshire received, courtesy of the Home Secretary, an additional £1 million for policing the demonstrations at Fylingdales and Menwith Hill. My right hon. Friend will look sympathetically at further representations made by police authorities about the policing of current demonstrations.
Mr. Ian Cawsey (Brigg and Goole): In a recent conversation with our chief constable, he told me that policing in the Isle of Axholme, which is one of the most rural parts of my constituency, had been more than doubled due to a combination of the crime fighting fund and the rural policing fund. However, he regretted that that was subject to an annual review of rural policing
grants. Will the Minister, on behalf of the Government, assure him that the fund will give long-term funding to police authority budgets?
Hilary Benn: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for drawing attention to the improvements to policing made available by the funding to which he referred. I hope that I can reassure him by telling him that having established the rural policing fund, we do not intend to get rid of it.
Mr. Elfyn Llwyd (Meirionnydd Nant Conwy): Is not the Minister being disingenuous? In reality, giving a standstill budget is effectively cutting what is available under the fund. All four Welsh police forces have had standstill rural fund budgets, despite the increasing cost of fuel, insurance and so on, which means that they are less able to do the work that they are supposed to do in rural areas. The Government, to their credit, identified the need for the fund. Unfortunately, however, they now seem to be back-pedalling.
Hilary Benn: I concur with the hon. Gentleman's final point; the rural policing fund did not exist until it was created by this Government precisely because we recognised the strength of the argument put forward by him and other hon. Members who represent rural areas. However, we need to look at the funding of police forces in the round, and the rural policing fund is only one element of the resources that have gone in. This year, the cash rise overall has been 6.2 per cent., which feeds its way into police authority budgets through both the core grant and the additional funding that police authorities get. It is precisely for that reason that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State was able to refer a moment ago to the record number of police officers that we now have in this country.
Criminals
8. Mr. Richard Bacon (South Norfolk): If he will make a statement on access by the Office of Fair Trading to information on convicted criminals held on the police national computer. [104114]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Michael Wills): Decisions on access to information on the police national computer are primarily a matter for the Association of Chief Police Officers. Direct access by the Office of Fair Trading was approved in 2001 to enable it to undertake its role as a prosecution agency. An application for access for the purpose of checks on applicants for consumer credit licences was not approved at that time because it was considered that such checks would be more appropriately made through the Criminal Records Bureau once the basic disclosure service became available. As the priority for the CRB is now to ensure that the demand for higher level disclosures is fully met, I understand that the OFT is considering making a fresh application for direct access to the police national computer as an interim measure.
Mr. Bacon : I am grateful to the Minister for that answer. Will he tell us what advice the Home Office will be giving to the Association of Chief Police Officers on
this matter? Dodgy consumer credit companies prey on some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the country, and there seems to be little point in holding criminal records on people if a body as important as the Office of Fair Trading cannot get routine access to that information before deciding whether to grant or withhold a consumer credit licence.
Mr. Wills: The hon. Gentleman rightly draws attention to the importance of this issue. It is a matter for the Association of Chief Police Officers, but the OFT has been advised that the next committee meeting that will decide on such access will take place in April. It might help the hon. Gentleman to understand that, since the original application was made in 2001, circumstances have changed in two respects. First, the Criminal Records Bureau service that it was then thought would be available is not currently available. Secondly, recent advances in information technology have made security of access much more possible. I am sure that ACPO will bear both those factors in mind as and when the OFT makes such an application.
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