2006 Chapter 38

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These notes refer to the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 (c.38) which received Royal Assent on 8 November 2006

VIOLENT CRIME REDUCTION ACT 2006

EXPLANATORY NOTES

INTRODUCTION

1.     These notes refer to the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 which received Royal Assent on 8 November 2006. They have been prepared by the Home Office in order to assist the reader of the Act. They do not form part of the Act and have not been endorsed by Parliament.

2.     The notes need to be read in conjunction with the Act. They are not, and are not meant to be, a comprehensive description of the Act. Where a section or part of a section does not seem to require any explanation or comment, none is given.

SUMMARY

Part 1: Alcohol-related violence and disorder

3.     Chapter 1 of Part 1 establishes powers to allow those aged 16 and over who are responsible for alcohol related disorder to be excluded from pubs and clubs in a defined geographic area for a given length of time under a drinking banning order, with the possibility of other relevant prohibitions also being included in the order. Provision is also made for the duration of an order to be reduced if an individual satisfactorily completes an approved course to address their alcohol misuse behaviour.

4.     Chapter 2 of Part 1 gives local authorities the power to designate, with the consent of the police, a locality as an alcohol disorder zone where there is a problem with alcohol-related nuisance and disorder. Local authorities will have the power to impose charges on holders of premises licences allowing the sale by retail of alcohol and on holders of club premises certificates allowing the supply of alcohol to members and their guests. Charges can be imposed if licensed premises and clubs did not implement an action plan designed to address the problem. They will have a period of eight weeks in which to do this. As part of the action plan, licensed premises may be asked to fund extra service provision - extra late-night transport for example. If premises failed to implement the action plan, then charges would be levied at a nationally-set rate, reflecting the cost of a typical basket of initiatives which could be used by local authorities and other public authorities to tackle the problem. A designation will be subject to three monthly review of its appropriateness.

5.     Chapter 3 of Part 1 inserts a new procedure into the Licensing Act 2003 which allows for an accelerated review of licensed premises by a licensing authority, and the attaching of temporary conditions to a premises licence pending the full review of the licence. The new procedure provides for a senior police officer (of or above the rank of superintendent) to certify to a licensing authority, that he/she considers a licensed premises to be associated with serious crime and/or disorder. On receiving the application the licensing authority will be obliged to consider within 48 hours whether it is necessary to take interim steps pending a full review of the licence which must take place within 28 days.

6.     The interim steps that a licensing authority may take include modification of the conditions of a licence (e.g. requiring at risk pubs/clubs to search for offensive weapons or use toughened glass); the exclusion of sale of alcohol; the removal of the designated premises supervisor from the licence; or the suspension of the licence.

7.     If the licensing authority decides to take interim steps, pending a full review, then it will be required to give notice of its decision to the holder of the premises licence and the police. The premises licence holder may make representations against the imposition of temporary measures and the licensing authority will be obliged to hold a hearing within 48 hours of receipt to consider these. In addition to considering the representations, the licensing authority must consider the original statement issued by the police and any representations made by the chief officer of police for the area. Following the hearing, the licensing authority may decide to withdraw or modify the temporary steps taken.

8.     The licensing authority is obliged to hold a full hearing within 28 days of receiving the signed statement from the police taking into account representations from the licence holder, any responsible authority or interested party. Following the review, the licensing authority may modify the conditions of licence, exclude a licensable activity from the scope of the licence, remove the designated premises supervisor from the licence, suspend the licence for a period not exceeding 3 months or revoke the licence.

9.     Chapter 3 of Part 1 also inserts a new offence into the Licensing Act 2003 which will be committed if, on three or more different occasions in a period of three consecutive months, alcohol is unlawfully sold on the same premises to a person aged under 18. The new offence is only committed if at the time of each sale, the premises were licensed by a premises licence issued under the Licensing Act 2003 or the premises were being used for a permitted temporary activity under the authority of a temporary event notice given under that Act. The new offence is committed by a person who, on the occasion of each unlawful sale, was a person, or one of the persons, holding the premises licence for the premises, or a person, or one of the persons, who is the premises user and gave the temporary event notice authorising licensable activities at the premises. The penalty for the new offence on summary conviction will be a fine not exceeding £10,000 and, where the offender is a premises licence holder, the premises licence could be suspended for up to three months insofar as it authorises the sale of alcohol.

10.     Provision is made in Chapter 3 for a senior police officer, of the rank of superintendent or higher, or an inspector of weights and measures, to give a closure notice where there is evidence that a person has committed the new offence of persistently selling alcohol to children at the premises in question, and he considers that the evidence is such that there would be a realistic prospect of conviction if the offender was prosecuted for it. A closure notice will propose a prohibition on sales of alcohol at the premises in question for a period not exceeding 48 hours; and will offer the opportunity to discharge all criminal liability in respect of the alleged offence by the acceptance of the prohibition proposed in the notice. The premises licence holder will have fourteen days to decide whether or not to accept the proposed prohibition or to elect to be tried for the offence. Where the licence holder decides to accept the prohibition, it must take effect not less than fourteen days after the date on which the notice was served at a time specified in the closure notice. Closure notices may be served by police constables, trading standards officers and community support officers.

11.     Chapter 3 also amends the Licensing Act 2003 so that where a premises licence issued under that Act requires persons to be present to undertake manned guarding activities, the premises licence must only contain a mandatory condition that they be licensed by the Security Industry Authority if they are required to be licensed under the Private Security Industry Act 2001. Chapter 3 also amends the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 to limit the circumstances in which premises licensed by local authorities cannot be designated public places (where restrictions on public drinking will apply).

12.     Chapter 3 also creates a new power for a police constable to issue an individual with a direction to leave a locality for up to 48 hours. A direction may be issued if an individual in the locality is likely, in all the circumstances, to cause or contribute to the occurrence, repetition or continuance of alcohol-related crime or disorder in that locality and the direction is necessary to remove or reduce that likelihood.

Part 2: Weapons etc.

13.     Part 2 establishes a new offence of using someone to mind a weapon and amends firearms law to tackle the misuse of imitation firearms and air weapons, and the assembly of primers for ammunition for criminal purposes. This part of the Act also contains measures in relation to the sale etc. of knives and other weapons and the power to search for weapons in schools, further education colleges and attendance centres.

14.     Sections 28 and 29 create a new offence of using another person to look after, hide or transport a dangerous weapon and provide for the court to treat the use of a minor in these circumstances as an aggravating factor when considering the seriousness of the offence.

15.     Section 30 applies the existing minimum sentences for unlawful possession of certain prohibited weapons to other serious offences involving the possession and criminal use of such weapons.

16.     Sections 31 to 34 deal with the misuse of air weapons. Section 31 requires anyone who wishes to sell air weapons by way of trade or business to register with the police as a firearms dealer. Section 32 requires such sales of air weapons to be made face to face. Section 33 increases, from 17 to 18, the minimum age for acquiring or possessing an air weapon. Section 34 makes it an offence for any person to fire an air weapon beyond the boundary of any premises.

17.     Section 35 makes it an offence to purchase or sell primers for ammunition unless the purchaser has a valid firearm certificate or otherwise has lawful authority.

18.     Sections 36 to 41 deal with the misuse of imitation firearms. Section 36 makes it an offence to manufacture, import or sell realistic imitation firearms, as defined in section 38, and includes a power for the Secretary of State to make regulations to provide for exceptions and defences to this offence. Section 37 makes it a defence (to the offence under section 36) to show that the sale etc was for the purposes of a museum or gallery; for theatre, film or TV productions; for historical re-enactment; or for Crown service. There is also a defence for businesses who import realistic imitation firearms for the purpose of modifying them so that they are no longer realistic. Section 39 makes it an offence to manufacture, modify or import an imitation firearm which does not conform to specifications set out in regulations to be made by the Secretary of State. Section 40 makes it an offence to sell an imitation firearm to a person under 18. It also makes it an offence for a person under 18 to purchase an imitation firearm. Section 41 increases from 6 months to 12 months the maximum custodial sentence for carrying an imitation firearm in a public place without lawful authority or reasonable excuse.

19.     Section 42 increases the maximum term of imprisonment for the offences of having an article with a blade or point, in a public place or on school premises from 2 to 4 years.

20.     Section 43 amends section 141A(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 under which it is currently an offence to sell a knife or an article with a blade or point to a person under the age of 16 years. Section 43 increases that age to 18.

21.     It is an offence under section 141 of that Act to manufacture, sell, hire or offer for sale or hire, lend or give to another person an offensive weapon. Section 43 also creates a defence for those engaging in such activities for the purpose of theatrical performances and rehearsals, the production of films or the production of television programmes.

22.     Section 44 amends the Crossbows Act 1987 to raise from 17 to 18 the age at which a person can lawfully buy, hire, be sold or hired a crossbow, or possess a crossbow without the supervision of a person aged 21 or over.

23.     Sections 45, 46 and 47 provide a power for members of school staff, further education colleges and attendance centres to search pupils, students and persons attending the centre respectively for weapons. Section 48 reduces the threshold for a constable to exercise his powers of entry and search of a school and persons on school premises for weapons in section 139B of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 from 'reasonable grounds for believing' to 'reasonable grounds for suspecting'.

Part 3: Miscellaneous

24.     Part 3 of the Act contains four main measures in relation to football-related disorder:

25.     Section 54 introduces Schedule 4 to the Act which amends the Sexual Offences Act 2003 by inserting three new sections 60A, 60B and 60C. The three new sections introduce provisions allowing for the detention and/or forfeiture of vehicles, ships and aircrafts used in offences of trafficking for sexual exploitation under sections 57 to 59 of the 2003 Act.

26.     Where the same conduct amounts to a specified sexual offence under both the old law and the new law (since the commencement of the Sexual Offences Act 2003), section 55 ensures that a person can be found guilty of the offence even where it cannot be proved beyond reasonable doubt whether the offending conduct took place at a time when the old law was in force or at a time when the new law was in force.

27.     Section 56 makes certain cross border provision required as a consequence of the changes to Scottish law made by the Protection of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2005.

28.     Section 57 amends the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to ensure that those sentenced to imprisonment for public protection under section 225 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 remain subject to the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act for an indefinite period.

29.     Section 58 amends the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to enable a magistrate, on application from a senior police officer of the relevant force, to issue a warrant to allow a constable to enter and search the home of an offender subject to those notification requirements for the purposes of assessing the risks that the offender may pose to the community.

30.     Section 59 amends the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 to clarify the time period in which a complaint can be made for an application for an Anti-social Behaviour Order.

31.     Section 62 amends the Mobile Telephones (Re-programming) Act 2002 to make provision for widening the categories of persons involved in changing the electronic identifiers of mobile wireless communications devices who commit an offence under that Act.

32.     Section 63 amends the Private Security Industry Act 2001 to exempt certain people who work at sports grounds from the licensing requirements of that Act.

Part 4: General

33.     Part 4 deals with expenses, and repeals and provides for the commencement and extent of the Act.

TERRITORIAL APPLICATION: WALES

34.     Sections 45 and 46 (powers to search school pupils and students for weapons) will be commenced in relation to schools and further education institutions in Wales by the National Assembly for Wales rather than the Secretary of State.

BACKGROUND

Part 1: Alcohol-related violence and disorder

35.     In January 2005 the Government published a consultation paper called "Drinking Responsibly - The Government's Proposals". This set out proposals for introducing drinking banning orders. The range of prohibitions available through drinking banning orders - which could include exclusions from certain premises - will render the provisions of the Licensed Premises (Exclusion of Certain Persons) Act 1980 redundant. Schedule 5 therefore repeals the 1980 Act.

36.     The Government's proposals for powers for local authorities and the police to designate alcohol disorder zones and to charge licensed premises for the costs of dealing with alcohol-related crime and disorder were also included in the "Drinking Responsibly" consultation paper.

Alcohol disorder zones

37.     Alcohol disorder zones are designed to tackle the problem of alcohol-related crime and disorder in town and city centres by focussing intervention activity on the public space around licensed premises and/or the management of individual premises.

38.     Alcohol disorder zones will sit alongside other measures to change individuals' behaviour, enforce the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003 and secure the collective responsibility of licensed premises to help build a robust local infrastructure to manage the night time economy. They are intended to be an intervention of the last resort.

Power of police to require review of premises licence

39.     Through this legislation the Government is seeking to introduce a power for police to require an expedited review of an alcohol licence where the premises are associated with serious crime and disorder, and a power for councils to take temporary steps in relation to the licence (including imposing additional conditions) pending the determination of the review.

40.     These objectives fit into the overall government aim of achieving a 15% reduction in crime, (including violent crime) by 2008 by:

41.     These are selective measures. It is not the aim to require all licensed premises to undertake these searches or use toughened glass. Rather, the policy aim is to provide a selective tool, to be used proportionately, to limit this condition to those pubs that are at risk either because police intelligence shows there is a risk of knives/guns being carried or because crime and disorder has occurred on the premises.

42.     The Licensing Act 2003 is the main statutory lever to regulate both on and off licence traders. Operators are issued with a licence to sell alcohol, and this licence is the main vehicle for regulating their behaviours.

43.     There are conditions applied to this licence, relating to crime and disorder, which are on the face of the Licensing Act 2003 (e.g. not knowingly allowing alcohol to be sold to a person who is drunk) and apply universally to all licensed establishments.

44.     There is also a provision which allows other conditions to be attached to licences, by licensing authorities, which are tailored to the particular circumstances of individual establishments. Searching for weapons and use of toughened glass are examples of this type of selective provision that can already be applied to licences where there is a demonstrable need.

45.     The aim of this provision is to supplement the existing provisions in the Licensing Act 2003, which provide for conditions to be attached to licences. This is achieved by giving the police the power to issue a certificate where they believe that a premise is associated with serious crime and disorder. This would trigger an accelerated review of the licence with the attaching of temporary conditions to the licence.

46.     The provision would cover serious crime and disorder generally (rather than be limited to weapons and glass related incidents - although the need to use the provision for these purposes could be brought out in guidance). And the appropriate modifications and conditions to the licence could be set.

Persistent selling of alcohol to children

47.     The requirement to have reached 18 in order to make alcohol purchases has been the law in England and Wales since the coming into force of the Intoxicating Liquor (Sale to Persons under Eighteen) Act 1923. Despite measures over subsequent years aimed at reducing the underage purchase and consumption of alcohol, it remains the case that many children are able to obtain alcohol from some licensed sources now with ease. Since 1988, several attempts have been made to strengthen the offences and to make prosecution and conviction of offenders easier. These efforts have included:

48.     An Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaign in the summer of 2004 found that in premises targeted by test purchasing operations almost 50 per cent were committing offences of selling alcohol to children. A similar campaign during the Christmas/New Year period of 2004/2005 found that out of 989 test purchasing operations on targeted establishments, 32 per cent of on licence and off licence premises were found to be selling to under-18s.

49.     Although the Licensing Act 2003 increased the maximum fines for offences related to sales of alcohol to children from £1,000 to £5,000, the impact of convictions for such offences falls on the individual offender and therefore not necessarily on the business carrying on the licensable activity at the premises. Similarly, conviction may lead to the suspension of a personal licence if one is held by the offender, but not the premises licence which authorises sales of alcohol at the premises concerned. Whether any action is taken in respect of the premises licence depends on the police or trading standards officers applying to the licensing authority for a review of the premises licence. Whether any action is taken to suspend or revoke the premises licence would then depend on the view taken by the licensing authority following a hearing.

50.     In the "Drinking Responsibly" consultation paper, the Government argued that the existing and future offence provisions and the increased penalties associated with the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003 may be insufficient in themselves to curb the current level of unlawful sales. A key proposal was to legislate to create a power for the police and trading standards officers (inspectors of weights and measures) to close premises for a period of up to 48 hours where there was evidence of persistent unlawful selling to children. The provisions in sections 23 and 24 of the Act give effect to these proposals.

51.     Part 3 introduces a new power for a police constable to issue an individual with a direction to leave a public place where it is necessary to prevent alcohol-related crime or disorder. The direction can prohibit the person's return to the area for up to 48 hours. This provision will be particularly useful to the police as an early intervention tool as a direction could be given to a person who it is considered is likely to be involved in alcohol-related crime or disorder. It will therefore help the police to reduce the potential risk of alcohol-related crime or disorder taking place.

Part 2: Weapons etc.

52.     Gun crime remains relatively rare and as a proportion of all recorded crime, remains stable at 0.4% (including air weapon offences). However, gun crime remains of considerable concern to the Government.

53.     There is a range of legislation in place which makes it an offence to possess a prohibited firearm and to carry other offensive weapons in public without reasonable excuse. People may in some circumstances, however, escape prosecution by entrusting their weapon to another person, in particular to a child. Part 2 of the Act addresses this issue, and reflects the fact that using children in this way presents particularly serious dangers, as in addition to the risk of injuring themselves with the weapon and being arrested for possession of the weapon, they may in the longer term be drawn into gun and knife crime as a result of their early association with weapons.

54.     In recent years imitation firearms have featured in an increasing number of crimes, ranging from nuisance and intimidation to armed robbery. In 2004/5, imitation firearms were involved in 3,333 crimes. This was an increase of 55% following an 18% rise the previous year. Much of the problem involves young people misusing imitation firearms, including using realistic imitations to threaten and intimidate others. There is a range of existing offences and controls relating to imitation firearms but they have not proved sufficient to halt this trend. The Act seeks to tackle the problem at source by restricting the sale of imitation firearms.

55.     Air weapons were used in 11,825 crimes in 2004/5. This was a fall of 14% from the previous year but still represents an unacceptable level of misuse. Much of this misuse is committed by young people. The Act seeks to tackle this problem at source by controlling who can sell air weapons and by increasing the minimum age for acquiring or possessing an air weapon. A small number of offences involve firing air weapons beyond the boundary of premises. This was already an offence but applied only to young people. The Act closes this gap in the law.

56.     While whole rounds of ammunition are subject to licensing, component parts of ammunition are not. In recent years, the police have identified several cases where criminals had been found in possession of home-loaded ammunition. The Act seeks to address this problem by restricting sales of primers.

57.     On knife crime, the Home Secretary announced on 15 December 2004 that he was considering raising the minimum age at which a young person can buy a knife from 16 to 18 and that this measure (included in Part 2 of the Act) formed part of wider Government proposals on tackling knife crime.

58.     Section 45 gives head teachers or staff authorised by them a power to search a pupil and his or her belongings for knives or offensive weapons without the pupil's consent. The section provides a power and does not impose a duty. Head teachers may decide to exercise the power or to rely on the current option of calling the police - an option which remains. The Government is aware that a significant number of pupils (though low in percentage terms) have carried a knife in school for illegitimate purposes, which is a statutory offence, and that there have been a number of knife-related fatalities or serious injuries involving young people of school age. Section 46 creates an equivalent power for principals of a further education institution or an authorised member of staff, and section 47 a similar power for officers in charge of attendance centres or an authorised member of staff.