Clause 19 - Closure of certain licensed premises due todisorder or disturbance
Criminal Justice and Police Bill
4:42 pm
Mr Charles Clarke (Minister of State, Home Office; Norwich South, Labour)
First, Mr. Gale, I express my appreciation to you for your flexibility on the timing of the meeting of the Programming Sub-Committee.
During my previous comments in responding to the debate, I set out some of the general circumstances around the matter. I shall not repeat any of that, but discuss the amendments in order.
Amendment No. 4 would require the senior police officer to warn a licensee twice about his conduct of the premises before being able to make a closure order on the grounds of disorder or excessive noise. I understand the motivation behind that. As I said earlier, all the amendments have substance and were tabled properly, correctly and helpfully. However, this is a matter for guidance and for police practice, not primary legislation. The police officer present has to make his or her judgment on the basis of the circumstances that he or she sees. In almost all imaginable circumstances, it is likely that warnings will be issued more than once or twice, because that is how the police operate. They must, through the guidance that we discuss with them, arrive at the right way of dealing with the matter. An overly legalistic approach could lead to doubts about whether the police could act effectively and as the Bill intends. I hope that the hon. Member for Southwark, North and Bermondsey (Mr. Hughes) will consider asking leave to withdraw the amendment. I understand the force of his argument and the practice that he described, but what he proposes should be in the guidance, and part of police practice, rather than in primary legislation.