Clause 30

Part of Policing and Crime Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 1:15 pm on 12 February 2009.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Simon Burns Simon Burns Opposition Whip (Commons) 1:15, 12 February 2009

I shall make a brief contribution to raise a specific point. I agree wholeheartedly with my hon. Friend the Member for Hornchurch, that it is incredible that children as young as 10 should roam the streets of our towns and villages, particularly at night, unsupervised by their parents. Sadly, as he alluded in his contribution, in certain circumstances that is a sad reflection of society but it is a fact of life at present.

The issue that puzzles me, which is connected to the clause, is the reverse of that situation. Notwithstanding what the Government are seeking to do, which basically is to grant powers to be used on the streets against groups of young people who need to be moved on, why  are they not also looking at the other side of the coin? It came as a considerable surprise to learn, as a parent of teenage children, that in most cases in law, if a young person in that age group wishes to leave their home at night, and their parents say no, the parents have no legal right to stop their children from disobeying, except in certain narrow circumstances. If parents seek to bar the exit of the home for that young person because they do not think that it is appropriate for their children to go out on their own at night, and if they take action forcibly—in the peaceful meaning of that word—to stop their children, they are liable for prosecution. As a parent, that case came as a surprise to me—it is staggering. Why have the Government not looked at the problem from that angle to deal with what they are seeking to achieve in the clause?