Violent Crime Reduction Bill

My Lords, I cannot resist the temptation of inviting the Minister to say a little something. When I looked at the amendments in this group, I had no objection to them. The questions that I have simply flow from the practical consequences of the police being involved in searches in schools in such a manner. During debate on previous amendments, noble Lords talked about the police being called in in circumstances where the staff had been carrying out searches for knives and it had got to the stage where the police might be involved. We have no difficulty with that; we simply wish to ensure that both the staff and the pupils are protected as much as possible throughout any such searches. However, perhaps I may ask a ““what if”” question. Where a search has been carried out and a knife has been found or there is a suspicion that a knife will be found and the police have been brought in, what if, in addition to or as an alternative to a knife, the police find some other prohibited matter such as cannabis? What could the consequences of that be? Would the police take action against the student or pupil, depending on the age of the person? In the future, after this SI has winged its way enlarging the number of fixed penalties for possession of cannabis, will they think of imposing on-the-spot fines on pupils? Would that power under Clause 15 of the Police and Justice Bill be delegated to the teaching staff to impose? Ramifications could follow what is a perfectly acceptable extension of search powers. That occurred to me only when I saw the government amendments. I do not know whether the Minister has been briefed on such matters. This is a new area of more comprehensive searches which should be for the protection of all but which may have some consequences that we need to know will be dealt with properly. At the moment, for example, if a young person is in possession of cannabis, it is often thought more appropriate that he or she is given counselling and medical help rather than being prosecuted immediately. Whether that is right or wrong, one has to consider whether that would be superseded by the imposition of a fixed penalty fine or other matters if the police were brought in to a search at an early stage. I wonder whether that is something that the Government have considered when tabling these amendments.