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THE

PARLIAMENTARY   DEBATES

OFFICIAL REPORT

IN THE THIRD SESSION OF THE FIFTY–THIRD PARLIAMENT OF THE

UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND

[WHICH OPENED 13 JUNE 2001]

FIFTY–THIRD YEAR OF THE REIGN OF

HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II

SIXTH SERIES    VOLUME 423

NINTH VOLUME OF SESSION 2003–2004

 
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House of Commons

Monday 28 June 2004

The House met at half-past Two o'clock

PRAYERS

[Mr. Speaker in the Chair]

Oral Answers to Questions

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

The Secretary of State was asked—

Licensing Act 2003

1. Miss Anne McIntosh (Vale of York) (Con): What assessment she has made of the effects on golf clubs of the Licensing Act 2003. [180460]

The Minister for Sport and Tourism (Mr. Richard Caborn): The Licensing Act 2003 will not, in practical terms, require golf clubs to change significantly the way they operate under the current legislation, except with regard to the sale and supply of alcohol to young people under the age of 18. That has been accepted by the English Golf Union, which had some concerns. I believe those have been answered by my officials.

Miss McIntosh: The Act is causing great consternation the length and breadth of the country, not least in the Vale of York, which is packed with excellent golf clubs—some of the best in the country. What
 
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impact will the Act have on green fees and in particular, when does a guest cease to be a guest and become a visitor?

Mr. Caborn: Some 300 MPs have written to me and I have signed off a letter in reply. The hon. Lady wrote to me on 7 June and I replied to her on 20 June to allay the fears of the English Golf Union. There is no need for any increase in green fees. Indeed, I am hopeful that under the Act, golf and other clubs will have access to entertainment and liquor licences. We are bringing five regulatory authorities into one and removing a series of impediments to development. I hope that such streamlining will assist golf clubs, as well as other clubs and the wider entertainment industry.

Mr. Kevan Jones (North Durham) (Lab): I recently wrote to my right hon. Friend on behalf of Chester-le-Street golf club. I thank him for his reply and clarification, which I have sent round the other three excellent golf clubs in North Durham. Does he agree that some of the confusion rightly expressed by golf clubs and others is due to the fact that guidance on certain aspects of the Act has not yet been published? When can we hope to have full clarification? Would it be an idea to produce some type of guide, so that voluntary organisations such as golf clubs would understand the Act?

Mr. Caborn: My hon. Friend should know that we published guidance about a month ago—

Mr. Malcolm Moss (North-East Cambridgeshire) (Con): The guidance has already been scrutinised by the House.

Mr. Caborn: Indeed. Hopefully, we will soon be able to announce the first allotted day and the guidance will be implemented by autumn 2005. Through the guidance, we should be able to clear up all the queries that golf clubs and others have. To comply with the Act, local authorities must issue a statement of their policy on implementing it.
 
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Mr. Moss: Will the Minister kindly explain to the House the difference between a non-invited non-qualifying club member signing into a local Conservative or Labour club and being refused a drink at the bar, and the same person turning up unannounced and uninvited and signing in for his green fee to play a round of golf while on holiday, yet being allowed to buy himself a drink at the bar afterwards?

Mr. Caborn: If the hon. Gentleman studies the Act carefully, particularly the provisions dealing with associate members and sees how we have been able to incorporate the definition of "guests" in that, it would allay his fears and those of every golfer. We are not affecting activity on the 19th hole. On the contrary, when the Act is implemented, I believe it will bring distinct advantages to golf clubs and other sports clubs. The fears that the hon. Gentleman expresses at the Dispatch Box have been addressed. If he reads the 2003 Act, he will see what it says about associate members, how guests are now incorporated in that, and the definition of a golf club, which is not primarily a club that is licensed for drinking—the bar is an associate part of a golf club. If he interprets the Act with a degree of common sense, he will be able to answer his own question.

Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy

2. Mrs. Janet Dean (Burton) (Lab): What plans she has to support and promote an alcohol harm reduction strategy with the relevant groups and industries. [180461]

The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Tessa Jowell): My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and I are meeting the alcohol industry this afternoon to discuss its role in the delivery of the alcohol harm reduction strategy. My officials are also working closely with other Government Departments, the police, local authorities and the industry on the implementation of the strategy.

Mrs. Dean: I welcome my right hon. Friend's response. Representing a brewing constituency, I know the keen willingness of the industry to co-operate with Government. Last Christmas Coors Brewers based in my constituency worked with the Scottish Executive to produce alcohol responsibility advertisements, which not only were noticed, but had credibility with young people. Can my right hon. Friend reassure me that the Government will work with the alcohol industry to produce similar advertisements throughout the UK to make sure that we tackle the binge drinking that is so prevalent in our communities?

Tessa Jowell: I thank my hon. Friend for that question. The Coors initiative is exactly the sort of positive contribution that we are looking to the industry to make. I hope that other brewers will follow the Coors example. As a result of its investment in her constituency, the alcohol and addiction centre has benefited to the tune of several hundred thousand pounds. This is a very constructive and socially responsible initiative by Coors, and I hope that other brewers will follow.

Mr. Don Foster (Bath) (LD): While the whole House will welcome the Government's alcohol harm reduction
 
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strategy, does the Secretary of State accept that it is not helped when a public service broadcaster such as Channel 4 shows scenes of abuse-filled fights on "Big Brother", in total contradiction of the strategy that she is trying to adopt? What will she do to ensure that such things do not happen again?

Tessa Jowell: Let me make a general point. I think that public service broadcasters have a very constructive potential role to play in getting these messages across to young people and not glorifying binge drinking. That is a contribution that they can make. The incident from "Big Brother" to which the hon. Gentleman referred is a matter for the regulator in looking at the content of the programme against the licensed conditions of the broadcaster.

Mr. Kelvin Hopkins (Luton, North) (Lab): My right hon. Friend will be aware that the real price of alcoholic drinks has fallen substantially as a proportion of disposable income since the 1970s. Will she discuss with her ministerial colleagues the price of alcohol; how the minimum price might at least be sustained, if not increased; and how she would prevent floods of cheap alcohol from coming in from the continent of Europe?

Tessa Jowell: Yes; those are exactly the kind of issues about which we in government are very concerned. In particular, we are concerned about the free promotions that say "Spend £5 and drink as much as you can" and the kind of incentives that get too many young people drunk and create precisely the sort of problems in our inner cities and city centres, particularly at the weekends, that make those places a no-go area for some people. We are determined to tackle that issue.

Miss Julie Kirkbride (Bromsgrove) (Con): Can the right hon. Lady explain the point of engaging with relevant organisations when her Government do not take their advice? Will she confirm that the following sentence appeared in the draft alcohol harm reduction strategy that was circulated to the Cabinet in August 2003:

"Relaxing availability  . . . increases general harm whether through more outlets (Finland), denser outlets (California) or longer hours (Western Australia)"?

Will she confirm that that sentence featured in the original strategy, and can she explain why it was taken out?

Tessa Jowell: I shall write to the hon. Lady about that point, because I want to be clear and accurate in the answer that I give. Let me give her the endorsements that we have received of the case for flexible opening and its benefits as a way of tackling the increasing culture of binge drinking, especially among young people. The Association of Chief Police Officers has been consistent in its support of the removal of rigid permitted hours and the introduction of more flexible opening hours, because of the strong link to crime and disorder. That was followed up four years later, when its president reinforced that point on the "Today" programme. Rick Naylor of the Police Superintendents Association made a very similar point. There are many reasons for moving to flexible opening hours, one of which is the advice of
 
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the police that that is one of the ways in which we can deal with disorder in our city centres. It is also one of the ways in which we can tackle binge drinking.

Miss Kirkbride: I am not sure whether Home Office Ministers agree with the right hon. Lady on this matter. She kindly offered to write to me, but she will be aware that the Home Office has already written to my right hon. Friend the Member for Haltemprice and Howden (David Davis) pointing out that the strategy unit took medical advice, but that it was never published when it came to the wider parts of the alcohol harm reduction strategy. Given what she has said today, rather than writing to me, will she undertake to place in the Library both the medical advice that was taken by the strategy unit on behalf of the alcohol harm reduction strategy and the original draft document that was given to the Cabinet in August 2003? Then we can all make up our minds on this matter.

Tessa Jowell: The strategy unit reported to the Prime Minister, and I do not want to discuss the process by which information is or is not published, but the Cabinet Office and the strategy unit will be aware of the hon. Lady's questions. Let us focus on the key issue: the Home Secretary and I are at one on tackling alcohol-related crime, and flexible opening hours, which we introduced in the Licensing Act 2003, are one way to do that.

The 2003 Act gives local people and local authorities unprecedented powers to intervene where licensees fail to act in accordance with their obligations. If a licensee's failure to oversee the proper conduct of their premises leads to crime and disorder, that licensee will lose their licence and their livelihood. Government action will be judged against the licensing objectives in the 2003 Act, and the overriding objective is the prevention of crime and disorder. The hon. Lady can ask for any information that she wants, but it will not deflect the Government from making sure that fewer alcohol-related crimes take place, and that our city centres become places of pleasurable relaxation, rather than no-go areas, which is how many people currently regard them.

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