Local Authorities (Alcohol Disorder Zones) Regulations 2008

rose to move, That the draft regulations laid before the House on 1 April be approved. The noble Lord said: My Lords, in 2005-06, nearly one-fifth of all violent incidents were committed in or around pubs and clubs. Police and local authorities now have a wide range of devices and powers available to them to tackle alcohol-related crime and disorder. The key legislation is the Licensing Act 2003, which gives licensing authorities a wide range of powers to tackle alcohol-related crime, nuisance and disorder, including violent crime and underage sales, if they can be attributed to individual premises. These powers include the modification, suspension or revocation of licences on review. However, although a wide range of legal powers is available to the police and local authorities, it is not always possible to make a clear link between the crime and disorder happening in and around one or more licensed premises with the premises themselves. The alcohol-related crime and disorder in the public space may be the cumulative result of people drinking in a number of on-trade licensed premises or by purchasing alcohol in one or more off-licences when, for example, they are already intoxicated. In such cases, the provisions in the Licensing Act may be insufficient to ensure that these premises act in a collectively responsible manner. There will almost certainly be a need for additional enforcement activity. As such, as a measure of last resort, alcohol disorder zones have been designed to enable local authorities, in partnership with the police, to tackle high levels of alcohol-related crime and disorder within a defined zone by requiring licence holders in that zone to pay for additional police and local authority enforcement services. If licensed premises are part of the problem, we argue that it is only right that they should be part of the solution. To be fair, I am not saying that all licensed premises are part of the problem—far from it. Many trade very responsibly: they do not sell to kids; they do not sell to drunks; they do not have silly promotions that are designed to get people so drunk that they do not know what day of the week it is; and they ensure that at closing time dispersal is managed in a calm and efficient way, and that glasses are properly tidied up so that they do not become lethal weapons. However, we also know that this simply does not apply to all pubs, clubs, off-licences and supermarkets. Far too many sell to under-18s and to people who are already drunk. Far too many do not trade in a responsible way and, as a result of their ““it’s not my problem”” approach, they collectively make the spaces in some towns and cities unpleasant places to be in the evenings and at night. We argue that, once all other options have been exhausted, alcohol disorder zones should be considered to ensure that licensed premises collectively behave in a responsible way. Critics of ADZs will say that they are unnecessarily bureaucratic, but they have been designed to ensure that licensed premises are given an opportunity to change before any charges are imposed on them. To ask a fair question, how will they work in practice? There are three key stages to an alcohol disorder zone: proposing to designate an area as an ADZ; the action plan stage; and, finally, the designation and operation of a full ADZ. If, following the proposal stage, where a local authority consults on whether to have an ADZ in the first place, the local authority decides to move ahead, it will then publish a voluntary action plan jointly with the police setting out the specified locality, such as a high street or town centre. The action plan will set out a combination of measures that should prevent alcohol-related crime and disorder taking place in that specified public space. The action plan will involve the local authority, police and licence holders by setting out what is to be expected from each of them. For example, the police may agree temporarily to put on additional police during the early hours and licensed premises will be expected to sign up to an approved accreditation or award scheme, such as ““Best Bar None””. Under the action plan, the affected licensed premises will be given a chance to make the necessary changes and, if they do, there may be no need for the local authority to take any further action. However, in cases where there has been insufficient implementation of the voluntary action plan on the part of licensed premises, the local authority may designate that locality as an ADZ. Designation allows local authorities to levy compulsory charges on certain licence holders for above-normal levels of enforcement activity by that authority and the police, such as frequent visits by police officers or police community support officers to licensed premises or additional activity by trading standards officers. I want to be absolutely clear that a local authority should consider designating a locality as an ADZ only after all other measures available to that authority, and to the police, to tackle high levels of alcohol-related nuisance or disorder have been tried and have failed to solve the problem. ADZs are not intended to be used like any other tool; they are very much a measure of last resort. In any event, the ADZ must be reviewed every three months to ensure that it is still required. It is not known at this stage exactly how many ADZs will be designated in the first year. The regulatory impact assessment estimates that 30 areas will start the ADZ process in the first year, but it could be that all or none move towards full designation. This will depend entirely on the success and take-up of the voluntary action plan. I now want to address some of the specific issues that have been raised in relation to ADZs. The first is the charging mechanism. The first step for the local authority in calculating charges that will apply to licensed premises is to work out the total cost of administering and enforcing an ADZ. This will be the total of the costs to the local authority of imposing, collecting and recovering charges, and reviewing the ADZ, plus the costs of additional policing and local authority services. Local authorities should aim to keep the costs of administering charges and reviewing ADZs as low as possible. We expect these costs to be recovered over the first three months of ADZ charges and for the level of charges to be reduced after this time. Having worked out the total cost of administering and enforcing the ADZ, the second stage in calculating charges is to spread the total cost of an ADZ among individual licence holders, who are not exempt, in accordance with Regulation 16. This is done by local authorities using the national ADZ charging formula that allows for local flexibility. The formula comprises two indicators: first, the premises’ rateable value as a proxy for capacity; and, secondly, the hours of opening during the ADZ service period. All licensed premises will be scored against both indicators. The formula sets out that individual premises’ total scores are calculated by either multiplying or adding together their scores under each of the two indicators. The local authority may give more or less weight to either of the two indicators. The total score that the premises receives will determine the charge that it has to pay. To make this as easy as possible for local authorities, the accompanying guidance gives a worked example to take them through it step by step. Some have asked whether supermarkets will be exempt from the charging mechanism. The short answer is no. If the availability of alcohol is one of the main reasons why people visit a supermarket during an ADZ service period, then it is right that it is liable to pay a charge. Although earlier versions of the regulations allowed for a 100 per cent discount, we were advised that this was ultra vires, as the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 does not allow for an exemption and a 100 per cent discount amounts to an exemption. As such, it was thought necessary to amend the regulations. However, when calculating the charge for premises that are open only for a short amount of time during the ADZ periods, it is possible that they will receive a large reduction in their charge. If premises are open for a short amount of time during the hours in which the ADZ period is operating, its score for hours of opening during the service period will be low. If a local authority multiplies the premises’ rateable value score, whatever that may be, by this low score, the total score or charge to be paid will also be much lower than that of identical premises that are open throughout the ADZ service period. In this way, premises that are open only for a short time during the ADZ service period will pay a much lower charge. To conclude, as I have said, the alcohol disorder zones represent a solution to the current problem of it not being possible to get collective change from a number of licensed premises in any given location. They are designed as a measure of last resort. Even then, it is to be hoped that licensed premises will avoid incurring compulsory charges by choosing to comply with the voluntary action plan. Where they do not, it is right that a tougher approach should be taken, and that those responsible for contributing to crime and disorder pay for the services of those who have to deal with it. I commend the regulations to the House. I beg to move. Moved, That the draft regulations laid before the House on 1 April be approved. [8th and 18th Reports from the Merits Committee and 17th Report from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments].—(Lord Bassam of Brighton.)