Clause 32 - Sale of aerosol paint to children
Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill
4:30 pm
Mrs Anne McIntosh (Shadow Minister, Environment and Transport; Vale of York, Conservative)
This is an opportunity for a small discussion. We welcome the provision enforcing the ban on the sale of aerosol paints to children under 18. I am sure that the Minister would wish to pay tribute to the many railway companies and others that have made massive investment, particularly on railway properties, in non-graffiti-stick materials. They are coming up with carriages and stations where graffiti paint will not take effect.
At present, local authorities rely on section 111 of the Local Government Act 1972 to make advisory visits to retailers to seek assurances that spray paints are not being, and will not be, sold to children. Will the Minister confirm that, under clause 32, there will be a more positive and rigorous control to make sure that the sale of aerosol paints to children under 18 is indeed prohibited? Will the enforcing officer of a local weights and measures authority be different depending on whether we are talking about a unitary authority or a county or district authority?
I understand that it is difficult to give a precise figure for the percentage of graffiti committed by under-16s, but it is believed that they account for well over 60 per cent. of all graffiti, so the provision is potentially extremely important.