Clause 35 - Interpretation
Anti-social Behaviour Bill
2:30 pm
Mr James Paice (South East Cambridgeshire, Conservative)
I shall take up what the hon. Member for Gedling (Vernon Coaker) has extracted from the Minister. The concept that a relevant locality could be an entire basic command unit area shines a slightly different light on some earlier discussions. I accept the Minister's point that the superintendent has complete flexibility. He may make the decision only in respect of a couple of streets. However, the prospect that the area could be as large as a whole BCU area throws a different light on the matter. In some ways, if that were the case, it would negate or at least reduce the concerns that I expressed under earlier amendments.
I am grateful to the hon. Member for Gedling for getting the Minister to place that point on the record. It makes a significant difference. I just hope that, when the Bill is enacted, superintendents realise that they could have that scope. Then we might really see the benefits of this part of the Bill.