Government's Millennium proposals get half-hearted support

The Government has been given the go-ahead for its proposals for 36 hours continuous drinking during the Mill-ennium celebrations by Parliament's Deregulation Committees, but not without some serious reservations being expressed.

Both Committees, one for the House of Commons and one for the House of Lords, agreed that the Government's proposals should now proceed to the next stage and be laid before Parliament for final approval. However, the Government was criticised by both Committees, particularly the Lord's Committee which accepted the main points made by the Institute of Alcohol Studies in its submission on the issue. (see Alcohol Alert Issue No.1 1999)

The House of Commons Committee criticised the Home Office for giving the impression in its original press release that the proposals had already been made law, when all that had happened was that they had simply been laid before Parliamentary Committees for consideration. The Committee asks that in future all Government Departments ensure that such false impressions be avoided, so as not to prejudice the task of Parliamentary scrutiny.

On issues of substance, however, the Commons Committee accepted all the Government's arguments and proposals, even regarding restriction orders, the means proposed by the Government to avoid undue social disturbance and public order problems arising from extended drinking hours. On this, the Committee accepted, apparently without question, the Government line that the proposals would not increase public disorder and that the provisions for restriction orders were adequate to deal with potential nuisance at `problem' premises. The Committee's comments simply ignore the main criticisms levelled at restriction orders, for example, that as in practice they could only be brought into effect after the nuisance had occurred, the protection they offer to local residents is more apparent than real.

The conclusions of the House of Lords Committee are far more critical of the Government. Indeed, the Lords Committee recommends that the Government amend its proposals to apply only to the Millennium Eve and not to subsequent New Year's Eves. This is because Parliament does not have sufficient evidence to agree to the proposals for subsequent New years and it would be sensible to await the outcome of Millennium Eve before making final decisions.*

On the main issues regarding, public order, noise and social disturbance, the Lord's Committee state:

"The Millennium New Year period is guaranteed to be a noisy one, with or without any relaxation in the licensing laws. For example, large-scale firework displays are planned and many church bells are being renovated up and down the country so that they can be rung simultaneously on 1 January 2000. Whilst we have considerable sympathy for residents who may be disturbed, we take the view that they are likely to be disturbed on the Millennium New Year's Eve anyway, with or without the present deregulation proposal. The exceptional nature of the celebrations that are already planned for the Millennium leads us to accept that it is possible that no necessary protection will be lost if the proposed relaxation is allowed for that New Year. We would also see no need for "restriction orders" if the proposal is limited to that occasion.

"The maintenance of "necessary protection" through the licensing laws - or their deregulation - raises complex questions of the maintenance of public order and the operation of public services over the holiday period. We agree with the Institute of Alcohol Studies that, despite the responses which the Home Office received to its consultation document, the Government's explanatory memorandum on the proposal fails almost completely to answer these questions. The IAS said in its evidence that "presumably, the Government is convinced that its proposals will not result in additional disturbances on the streets or seriously ill people not being cared for properly in Accident and Emergency Departments because of intoxicated (and often abusive) revellers putting undue strain on the system. It would clearly be helpful for the Government to publish the information, evidence and advice on which it has arrived at these confident conclusions. In view of the possible impact on the health service, this should be done by means of statements by the Secretary of State for Health as well as the Home Secretary."

The Lords Committee concludes:

`In an unprecedented situation, it is difficult to come to a firm conclusion as to whether necessary protection would be maintained under the proposal. We have concluded that, in order to guarantee necessary protection, in so far as this is possible, that in laying the second stage deregulation order before Parliament the Home Secretary and Secretary of State for Health should justify the Government's claim that the emergency services will be able to cope with the likely effects of the deregulation order over the Millennium period.'

Delegated Powers and Deregulation Committee. 18th Report and Third Report Session 1998-99. 16th and 17th June respectively 1999.

*STOP PRESS It has been announced that the government has accepted the Lords' recommendation and the order will now apply for this year only.