Clause 1 - Closure notice
Anti-social Behaviour Bill
10:45 am
Mr Nick Hawkins (Surrey Heath, Conservative)
I thank the Minister for his serious and considered response. I have listened carefully to him, but this has to be a judgment call. I am grateful for his acknowledgment that we are not proposing that local authorities go off on a frolic of their own without consulting the police.
Of course I would be happy if, at a later stage, the Government were to table an amendment to the effect that local authorities could initiate action, but only after full discussion with the police to ensure that no ongoing police surveillance plans were jeopardised. That would be a useful safeguard. However, we strongly feel that sometimes—less often in my local authority than in other local authorities of which I am aware—the local authority desperately wants to deal with something and for some reason the police are obstructive.
I remind the Minister of an occasion during the tenure of his boss, the present Home Secretary, when there was a massive difference of opinion between an authority and a chief constable in Sussex. Partly because of that difference of opinion and partly because of a history of other matters, as a result of the Home Secretary's initiative, the chief constable of Sussex departed his office. We do not wish to go over that sad history, but I am sure that the Minister is aware that there are occasions on which local
authorities see a huge problem—perhaps the existence of a crack house—but are not able to win over the police.
To some extent, that issue is linked to the question of which groups of controlled drugs are governed by this part of the Bill. I will try to persuade the Government that they should extend the Bill to deal with matters well beyond the narrow field of crack houses and class A drugs. I will also suggest that police officers of a lesser rank should be involved. To some extent, it is difficult to talk about the current group of amendments in isolation, because they are linked to others and thus form a pattern showing how we feel this part of the Bill could be improved. We believe that giving a local authority chief executive, in consultation with the police, the power to initiate action is a vital aspect of that improvement.