Clause 1 - Drinking banning orders
Violent Crime Reduction Bill
12:00 pm
Hazel Blears (Minister of State (Policing, Security and Community Safety), Home Office; Salford, Labour)
I am probably the last person who would make light of alcohol-fuelled crime, which I regard as a serious matter and a huge blight on our communities that stops reasonable people from having a decent night out. We want drinking banning orders to be as flexible as possible and to range from ones of two months, which would act as a short, sharp shock to bring home to people the consequences of their behaviour, to ones of two years, which might be made on conviction for a fairly serious violent crime. It is important that the court should have discretion and a spectrum of options.
One reason for the two-month period is to deal with situations such as that of people drinking and causing problems in the summer months in a local park. I am sure that we have all had examples of that in our constituencies. A two-month order would be effective in stopping such people from drinking in the park in July and August, but would not necessarily be very effective in stopping them from drinking in the park in December and January, although I know that some people will still do that.
I am keen to ensure that the courts do not regard the initial threshold as being too high and thus do not use the orders; I want them to be an everyday tool for magistrates. There is a provision that they will have to consider making a drinking banning order when someone is in front of them for common assault under the influence of drink. If the initial period is too long, the courts may find orders inappropriate for behaviour at the lower end of the scale. In the lives of some young people, an eight-week ban on going to their favourite pub or nightclub could have a great impact and may affect the one night of the week to which they look forward enormously of going out with their friends and being part of a social scene. Being banned from taking part in such a pleasurable social activity for eight consecutive Fridays and Saturdays might make them think seriously about changing their behaviour and determining that the next time that they are allowed to go to the nightclub, they will not get so drunk that they cannot remember what they did and cause huge problems for the rest of the community.