Clause 20 - Anti-social behaviour orders:
Drugs Bill
2:30 pm
Ms Caroline Flint (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (reducing organised and international crime, anti drugs co-ordination and international and European issues), Home Office; Don Valley, Labour)
The clause deals with antisocial behaviour orders, as set out in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. ASBOs address the antisocial behaviour of adults, rather than that of young people, for which there are already measures in place. ASBOs are about what one should not do—they impose a curfew, or state that a person should not go to a particular area—whereas the conditions that we are discussing are about what people should do. There is already a provision for young people. That might go some way towards explaining the total number of incidents of antisocial behaviour by adults and young people.
We do not want to miss the opportunity to further the work that we are doing on antisocial behaviour, and to consider how we can develop a framework that includes what adults could do—for instance, if drugs are involved, that issue should be addressed. Some adults may be covered by other provisions. Sometimes, but not exclusively, adults involved in antisocial behaviour are arrested—and possibly charged—under other parts of the criminal justice system. In such cases, they are covered by other arrangements for testing and assessment.