Policing and Crime Bill

My Lords, I do not believe that that is necessary. With the guidance there, the judgment is best made at the time by the police. I should think that generally the welfare of the child and looking after the children takes priority, but there may be exceptional circumstances when there is a high risk of something else happening. Although I would not wish to predict that, there needs to be a certain amount of flexibility. Amendment 112 removes from the Bill provisions to extend direction-to-leave powers to persons under 16. As I said earlier, the police are telling us that the current age limit severely limits their ability to deal with groups of young people; the police find it very hard and they are keen that we should extend the powers. I therefore believe that extending directions to leave to 10 to 15 year-olds is necessary to ensure that the police are equipped with sufficient tools and powers to deal with these problems effectively. As well as removing Clause 31, Amendment 112 would change Section 27 of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 in two ways that would significantly weaken the police’s power to deal with those individuals likely to cause alcohol-related violence. First, it would mean that a direction to leave could be issued by a constable only to an individual who is actually causing alcohol-related crime or disorder. Secondly, the amendment would amend the Act whereby a direction could be issued only to leave the "immediate locality" rather than the "locality" as currently stated in the Act. I shall explain why the Government believe that the amendment is unnecessary. There are clear steps that an officer must consider before issuing a direction to leave to an individual. An officer must consider whether it is necessary to do so under two stringent tests. First, they must be assured that the person’s continued presence is likely, in all circumstances, to cause or contribute to the occurrence, repetition or continuance of alcohol-related crime or disorder. Secondly, the police officer must also believe that the issuing of the direction to leave is necessary to remove or reduce the likelihood, repetition or continuance of such crime or disorder. This is quite different from what is proposed by the noble Baroness. If the amendment were accepted, police would have to catch people in the act of causing alcohol-related crime or disorder. I am not convinced that this will be of much comfort or help to those worried about groups of young people who are drunk and likely to cause trouble in their area. Where crime and disorder is likely to occur but has not actually occurred, the police will not be able to disperse individuals to defuse the situation and prevent the crime or disorder from occurring. Surely this cannot be right. Should residents in a community have to wait for serious problems to arise before the police can intervene? Similarly, the amendment would mean that a direction to leave can be issued only to compel a person to leave the "immediate locality" rather than the "locality". If these powers are to be effective, the police must be able to tailor directions to leave to the individual and their surroundings. Narrowing that flexibility by allowing directions to leave to apply only to the "immediate locality" would severely limit their effectiveness to prevent alcohol-related crime and disorder, as it could lead to individuals regrouping a short distance away. For example, on a council estate the young people might leave the playground and congregate at the far end of the football field. I do not believe that it is right that a person dispersed from one street or one end of an estate can move a short distance and continue behaving in the way that warranted a direction to leave in the first place. The noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, raised a point about Stoke City football supporters. I am not aware of the case, but I am interested that the law was used to ban them from the whole of Manchester. I will look into the circumstances, because I would be interested to know myself. However, I am not aware of the case. We believe that it is appropriate for the police to continue to use their discretion to identify the locality where an order applies; and if we want these powers to be effective, we should not limit their ability to tailor an order to the individual’s surroundings—these things need to be tailored. Nor should we introduce uncertainty about the extent of the "immediate locality". The noble Earl asked about police training, and I have had a note from the Box. All police are given access to Home Office guidance on directions to leave. We are also training front-line police in the use of these tools. However, I will write to the noble Earl, who deserves a more comprehensive answer.