Drugs Bill
2:30 pm
Mrs Cheryl Gillan (Shadow Minister, Home Affairs; Chesham and Amersham, Conservative)
I hope that the Minister will continue to be generous in giving way so that we can have a real debate on this Issue. Unfortunately, she is not setting my mind at rest. She is leading me further and further down a muddled path. She said that she wanted to set up a safety zone around a school, but she then says that she wants to close down the time frame so that we prevent adults dealing drugs to adults in the vicinity of the school falling under the aggravated offence.
Even if it is an adult dealing to adults in the vicinity of the school, that building per se may attract children out of hours when it is being used as a school. Children return to buildings that they find familiar when they are at a loose end and want to play or simply congregate. In all our communities we see children hanging around school premises when schools are not being used, even in the holidays. I cannot understand how the Minister is achieving her stated aim. How is she protecting children by creating this safety zone as it seems to depend on what time of the day or night it is but does not have children at its centre?