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11 Mar 2008 : Column 310W—continued
Primary Education: Per Capita Costs
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the average expenditure allocated per child to primary schools is (a) in Bournemouth and (b) at Townsend School, Bournemouth in 2007-08. [193033]
Jim Knight [holding answer 10 March 2008]: The average per pupil figure in 2007-08 for Bournemouth local authority was £3,075 and for Townsend School it was £4,592.
Young People: Skin Piercing
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether there is an obligation to obtain parental consent before providing a (a) child and (b) young person with a body piercing in a commercial setting. [178634]
Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.
There is no statutory age of consent for cosmetic piercing (cosmetic body piercing and ear piercing). Cosmetic piercing of a minor is lawful provided valid consent is given. A minor is able to give valid consent if he or she is capable of understanding the nature and consequences of the act to be done. Furthermore, the courts have held that a parent’s right to decide on behalf of his or her child yields to the child’s valid consent.
Cosmetic body piercing for sexual gratification is unlawful. Children under the age of 16 are not able to consent lawfully to a piercing that would be regarded as indecent assault. Genital or nipple piercing performed on someone under the age of 16 might be regarded as indecent assault under sexual offences legislation, depending on the facts of the case.
Guidance on issues relating to the age of consent for cosmetic piercing is contained in the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) Local Authority Circular (LAC) 76/2: “Enforcement of skin piercing activities”. This guidance recommends that businesses are advised to adopt reasonable age restrictions and involve parents where appropriate. The guidance is available on the HSE website at:
Copies have been placed in the Library.
Culture, Media and Sport
Alcoholic Drinks
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what (a) criteria and (b) other factors will be used in ranking geographical areas as potential hotspots for alcohol problems; and what scoring system will be applied in making that ranking. [193427]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Government will be working with police, local authorities and other stakeholders to develop tools to help local enforcement agencies better identify problem areas and premises. Ultimately such decisions have to be made locally using local knowledge.
Alcoholic Drinks: Licensing
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many businesses have had a licence to serve alcohol in each constituency in Yorkshire and the Humber in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [192902]
Mr. Sutcliffe:
Prior to the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003 which came into force on November 2005, data on the number of liquor licences issued under the Licensing Act 1964 (the 1964 Act) in England and Wales was collected by petty sessional divisions (magistrates courts areas) on a triennial basis. The last set of data relating to the 1964 Act was published in 2004. It is not possible to break this
number down by constituency areas. The data for petty sessional divisions in Yorkshire and Humberside are set out in the table.
| Number | |
The first DCMS Statistical Bulletin on Alcohol, Entertainment and Late Night Refreshment licences issued under the Licensing Act 2003, published on 8 November 2007, shows the number of licences granted between April 2006 and March 2007 broken down by licensing authorities. These include licences for on-sales or supply of alcohol only, off-sales of alcohol only and both on and off sales or supply of alcohol. The data for Yorkshire and the Humber are in the table.
| Premises licences and club premises certificates by licensable activity authorised in force on 31 March 2007 | |
| Number | |
| (1)( )Data not supplied. | |
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether a yellow card will be issued automatically for a breach of the terms of an alcohol licence; and whether such warnings will replace other sanctions. [193428]
Mr. Sutcliffe: It would be for the licensing authority to decide whether to issue the equivalent of a yellow card at the end of a review hearing, if necessary for the promotion of one or more of the licensing objectives. This approach will not replace existing sanctions, but would propose a range of measures appropriate to the nature of the breach incurred.
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many licensees have had their licences revoked for selling alcohol to under-age people (a) once, (b) twice, (c) three times and (d) on four or more occasions. [193429]
Mr. Sutcliffe: This information is not held centrally.
The Licensing Act 2003 introduced new procedures to allow premises licences to be reviewed where problems occur, including the illegal sales of alcohol to children. The review process allows a range of actions, including licence suspension and revocation; there were 675 reviews in England and Wales in 2006-07 (based on information provided by 85 per cent. of licensing authorities response rate) which resulted in 92 licences being revoked and 91 being suspended. Premises licences may be revoked for a number of reasons or a variety of factors, including sales to children.
There were also 37 personal licences suspended, revoked of forfeited in 2006-07 (80 per cent. response rate). The loss of personal licence could relate to conviction for any one of a number of relevant offences, including the sale of alcohol to children.
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many licensees in north Kent have had their licence to sell alcohol revoked for selling alcohol to under 18 year olds in each of the last five years. [191416]
Mr. Sutcliffe: This information is not held centrally.
Prior to the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003 which came into force on 25 November 2005, data on the number of liquor licences issued under the Licensing Act 1964 (the 1964 Act) in England and Wales were collected by petty sessional divisions (magistrates courts areas), on a three yearly basis. The last set of data relating to the 1964 Act covered the triennial renewal process in 2004 when 354 premises had their licences revoked in England and Wales. These
data do not indicate the reason for revocation which could include premises having simply ceased trading. These data are not available broken down by region.
The Licensing Act 2003 introduced new procedures to allow licences to be reviewed where problems occur, including the illegal sales of alcohol to children. The review process allows a range of actions, including licence suspension and revocation; there were 675 reviews in England and Wales in 2006-07.
The first Statistical Bulletin on licences issued under the Licensing Act 2003 was published on 8 November 2007. The following table gives information on the number of licences revoked by all Kent licensing authorities, although it does not give information on why they were revoked nor the proportion of those revoked licences that included a permission to sell alcohol.
| Licensing authority | Total completed reviews | No action taken | Operating hours modified | Licensable activity partially restricted | Licensable activity completely excluded | Other conditions added or modified | Designated premises supervisor removed (premises licences only) | Licence or certificate suspended | Licence revoked or club premises certificate withdrawn |
| (1) Data not supplied | |||||||||
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