Violent Crime Reduction Bill
9:00 am
Hazel Blears (Minister of State (Policing, Security and Community Safety), Home Office; Salford, Labour)
I beg to move,
That—
(1) during proceedings on the Violent Crime Reduction Bill the Standing Committee shall (in addition to its first meeting at 9.00 a.m. on Thursday 13th October) meet—
(a) at 10.30 a.m. and 4.00 p.m. on Tuesday 18th October;
(b) at 9.00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m. on Thursday 20th October;
(c) at 10.30 a.m. and 4.00 p.m. on Tuesday 25th October; and
(2) the proceedings shall be taken in the following order namely Clauses 1 to 23; Clauses 24 to 37; Schedule 1; Clause 38; Schedule 2; Clauses 39 to 44; Schedule 3; Clause 45; new Clauses; new Schedules; remaining proceedings on the Bill and shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday 25th October.
I welcome all members of the Committee. I am particularly delighted to have the opportunity to serve under your chairmanship, Mr. Forth, and that of Mr. Benton, your co-Chairman. I am also pleased to have had discussions with the hon. Members for Woking (Mr. Malins) and for Hornsey and Wood Green (Lynne Featherstone) about the programme motion, as I want to ensure that we have sufficient time for the Bill to be properly scrutinised. Some important provisions in the Bill will have a real impact on the public, especially those concerning alcohol. It also includes a large section dealing with the regulation of firearms, which deals with some technical issues, and I am keen that those technical matters should be properly pursued and scrutinised; some measures dealing with use of knives are very important to our constituents.
Although the Bill is relatively short in contrast to some—I hope that that commends it to you, Mr. Forth—its provisions deal with some significant issues. It is about trying to reduce violent crime. We have a good record on reducing violent crime, but there is much more to do. In particular, the impact of alcohol is significant. We estimate that up to half of all violent crime is linked to alcohol, so the provisions that we shall discuss this morning are of great importance.
We have made provision in our timetable for an extra sitting should it prove necessary, and I am certainly keen to be flexible in that regard. I am sure that we can make good progress, and that all members of the Committee will want to press on and ensure that we get through all the amendments and new clauses. I hope that the Committee’s proceedings will be smart and brisk, but also to the point, so that we can explore some of the significant and important issues in the Bill.