Policing and Crime Bill

My Lords, my amendments in this group, Amendments 116 to 123, are probing amendments to clarify just how the conditions will be drawn up. As I said, I understand that the details of the conditions are out for consultation and have already been considerably amended in draft after the initial responses. I ask the Minister a direct question: will they go out to full consultation again before they finally see print? It is remarkable just how little detail the Government have inserted in the Bill. Will we have a draft of the relevant statutory instrument before the House gets to Third Reading? From what the Minister just said, that is extremely unlikely, so we will have to take it on trust. My amendments focus on four areas: the proportionality of the conditions; the possibility of financial penalty; the interaction between the new conditions and existing legislation; and the number of conditions that the legislation allows to be imposed. My noble and learned friend asked a pertinent question about why there are to be nine. It does not really matter whether there are five, seven or nine; the fact is that they are currently in prospect. I hope the Minister will take this opportunity to clarify exactly what the Government’s intentions are. Are these conditions intended to replace much of what is in existing legislation in order to establish a whole new level of licensing restrictions, or will they be used only where the existing legislation is failing or where powers are not available? The word "mandatory" leads me to believe that they will be imposed on every occasion, whether relevant or not, and I regard that as rather silly. Will they be used to impose conditions that many think desirable but are not strictly necessary, or are they to be used, as I said, in the last resort? Will financial penalties be used to enforce the conditions or to add a hidden cost to certain activities? Does the Minister anticipate that the full quota of conditions will be used, or are the numbers in existing provisions a high-end estimate? That is almost what my noble and learned friend asked. I beg to move.