Licensing Act 2003

I suggest that the hon. Lady thinks seriously before making such an intervention. When have there been problems of social disorder in village halls as a result of cheese-and-wine fundraising events for play groups? There have not been any. The Government have used an Act that introduced various other facilities as a sledgehammer to crack a nut in relation to village halls and sports clubs. There are other complications. The honorary treasurer of Roydon village hall has said that before it can have a designated premises supervisor it must undergo a Criminal Records Bureau check. He added:"““We have been informed that this check cannot be carried out in England because the organisation to process these checks has not been put in place, and the current information supplied by the English Criminal Records Bureau does not meet the requirements of the new legislation. Therefore the application has to be processed in Scotland. We have four members on the Committee, who have undergone enhanced CRB checks in England, but this check is insufficient for the new regime, and they will need to undergo these checks again if they would wish to be designated premises supervisors.””" I have merely touched the surface in my remarks about what is a bad piece of legislation. Sadly, there is little time left for us to make it better. If the Minister had decided to work with us when we first raised these issues, he would have extended the deadlines, and we would have given him our support. However, we are now faced with just a few working days in the House, and no chance of bringing forward primary legislation to extend the 6 August deadline. Will the Minister at the very least now accept the mess that he has created and that he now finds himself in and work with us to find a solution for the many organisations that are struggling with the implementation of the Act? The Minister has not yet laid the statutory instrument setting the second deadline of 24 November. Will he agree to extend that deadline, at least until after the Christmas and new year period, so that seasonal trade and the enjoyment of the public are not interrupted? The Minister has set up the licensing fees review panel—I repeat the questions that I put to the Minister for Sports yesterday, which he singularly failed to answer or even attempt to address in his responses—which will not report until Autumn 2006. Will he now bring forward the review, tell it to report by the November deadline this year and agree to backdate any proposed reduction in fees, particularly to sports clubs and village halls? Will he agree also to review the way in which charges are apportioned to clubs, particularly sports clubs, so that they are based on the rateable value of only the area that is serving alcohol, rather than the club premises and grounds as a whole? Will he review the preposterous issue of temporary events notices, and increase them from 12 to at least to 24, and preferably to an even higher number? We are discussing the implications that this bad Act will have for the licensing regime. I have not mentioned many other organisations and businesses that are affected by the legislation, such as travelling circuses. The hon. Member for Bath (Mr. Foster) mentioned carnivals. There are also farmers’ markets, fast food outlets and corner shops, some of which are finding things very difficult and may go under. All of those organisations, businesses and community activities are being affected by the Act.