Stronger powers to tackle drinking in Queen's Speech
8:10am Wednesday 26th May 2010 in
MEASURES to end the problem of binge drinking in Swindon town centre will form part of the coalition Government’s first legislative programme, the Queen announced yesterday.
The Licensing Act 2003, which brought in 24-hour drinking but has been blamed for worsening booze-related anti-social behaviour, will be overhauled to give local authorities and the police “much stronger powers” to remove licences or refuse to grant them where premises are causing problems.
The new powers form part of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, which would also ban the sale of alcohol below cost price and allow councils to charge more for late-night licences to pay for additional policing.
The same Bill includes plans to introduce directly elected police commissioners to replace local police authorities, a proposal which has dismayed leaders of rank and file officers in Wiltshire, who are understood to be concerned about the politicisation of policing.
Other Bills announced yesterday include a new right for all employees to request flexible working.
Currently such a right is limited mainly to parents of children aged 16 and under. An independent Commission will be set up to look at how to fund long-term social care.
A Decentralisation and Localism Bill will “devolve greater powers” to councils and neighbourhoods and, by scrapping regional spatial strategies and their controversial home building targets, will give communities more control over housing and planning decisions. Council-led Local Enterprise Partnerships will replace Regional Development Agencies to promote economic development.
The same Bill will also give residents the power to trigger local referendums on any issue where there is enough support, as well as the power to veto “excessive” council tax increases. A European Union Bill will ensure a referendum will be held before any proposed transfer of powers to the EU.
A range of political reforms has also been promised, including the introduction of fixed five-year Parliamentary terms, a referendum on changing the voting system used to elect MPs, and a new right for constituents to trigger a by-election where their MP is guilty of “serious wrongdoing”.
ID cards are to be scrapped, the scope of the DNA database restricted, the rights to non-violent protest “restored” and regulation of the use of CCTV tightened.
Justin Tomlinson, Conservative MP for North Swindon, said: “I was extremely proud to attend my first state opening, and the Queen’s Speech set out a clear and positive agenda for tackling the deficit.
“I’m delighted we are transferring powers from our remote Parliament back into local communities, and giving local residents a real say in how services are delivered and run.”
Comments(21)
Bobfm
says...
8:26am Wed 26 May 10
From my Industries perspective, we have come to expect more and more 'rules'. It doesn't alter the fact that powers exist to clamp down on 'rogue' licensees, but are rarely used now. What we don't see once again is a real determination to clamp down on the under age drinker themselves.
Much of the Queens speech could have been taken directly from UKIP's various policy documents, written long before the election, so those elements are of course welcome.
We will have to of course wait and see as to how much of this reform is scuppered by the EU, I suspect HMG will come under huge pressure of RDA's and RA's after all they do form the basis for the EU's 8 regions of England.
reality_check
says...
12:38pm Wed 26 May 10
.
As you have already admitted that you may be serving alcohol to underage drinkers as a result, I'm afraid any comments you may make on this story are somewhat irrelevant, not to mention hypocritical.
Bobfm
says...
6:57pm Wed 26 May 10
itsamess
says...
8:38pm Wed 26 May 10
I Too
says...
9:00pm Wed 26 May 10
I also voted UKIP, because Bob will insist that breathing in, unfiltered toxic smoke will not damage my health.
I also voted UKIP because EVERYTHING is connected to UKIP.
In fact I find it UKIP hard to Write, without UKIP mentioning UKIP.
That's all I UKIP have to UKIP say on the UKIP matter.
PS.
I didn't really vote UKIP.
itsamess
says...
9:17pm Wed 26 May 10
You really should campaign for the banning of diesel and petrol vehicles and transport then as they collectively emit more toxins than any other user. Fossil fuels are the biggest contributor to air pollution by miles--and yes--you can hardly avoid it or see it.
itsamess
says...
9:20pm Wed 26 May 10
Dont U kip on about it either.
reality_check
says...
10:00pm Wed 26 May 10
.
So, can you now confirm that you are now carrying out proper ID checks on youngsters in your bar? Or are you still relying on 'judgement'?
Casual Observer
says...
11:38pm Wed 26 May 10
Messy: "Dear Bob--do give it a rest about UKIPs policies--please tell us how your MPs can influence our coalition govt who have a mammoth task in trying to get britain out or the mess its in. Please let us know how your MPs will vote--oops--so sorry--forgot--none were elected. End of!!"
Well said - UKIP are effectively meaningless, nothing more than background noise.
Bobfm
says...
12:54pm Thu 27 May 10
But hey don't let a little thing like facts get in the way.
Just for you reality_check
What it is Challenge 21.
Challenge 21 is a scheme that has been developed by the industry itself and is currently being adopted as best practice.
Put simply: If a customer appears to be under 21 they must prove they are over the legal age for that product, for example 18 for alcohol.
It is a safeguard to remove any ambiguity in the minds of you and your staff as to “is she/he or isn’t she/he over the legal age ” - if they look under 21 they MUST prove they are over age by showing one of the three acceptable forms of ID.
So now you know, judgement is allowed.
reality_check
says...
1:30pm Thu 27 May 10
Bobfm
says...
5:50pm Thu 27 May 10
I take it you haven't heard of fake ID's.
itsamess
says...
6:30pm Thu 27 May 10
Bobfm
says...
7:23pm Thu 27 May 10
vrdane
The telegraph also concluded the same as did the Guardian and the Observer, as well as the times.
Bobfm
says...
7:34pm Thu 27 May 10
Since it is universally recognised that the overwhelming majority of UKIP voters are disgruntled Tories, that is how the Eurosceptic wing of the Conservative core vote took its revenge on Cast-Iron Cameron. I shall not replicate the results here, since they have already gone “viral” online; but the figures are incontrovertible: even if you subtract 10, 20, or 30 per cent from the UKIP vote in those seats, to allow for minor defection from other parties, the UKIP votes still outnumber the anti-Tory majority. After the postponed election in Thirsk, the Tories will have 307 parliamentary seats; the seats lost through UKIP would have brought that up to 328, a clear overall majority.
http://tinyurl.com/2
dc9weu
itsamess
says...
9:28pm Thu 27 May 10
reality_check
says...
9:46pm Thu 27 May 10
Casual Observer
says...
11:45pm Thu 27 May 10
They're meaningless but hey, as Bob-a-job would say, don't let a little thing like facts get in the way.
(that wasn't supposed to rhyme!)
Bobfm
says...
7:47am Fri 28 May 10
itsamess, why keep asking a question you know the answer to, many consider such conduct very childish, which one doesn't expect from you.
itsamess
says...
6:22pm Fri 28 May 10
Very simply--because you continue to use spurious figures to boost your political views. We have had a govt for 13 years who have followed that course in manipulating figures to suit their agenda. Do you really want folk to believe your party is the same? We do have a govt now who are giving us the truth as it becomes available--and will bring in some harsh measures to try to bring this country back on track. UKIP do have some great policies--but not a chance to be heard because people like yourself whether you like it or not do more damage than good. It remains to be seen just how well this govt will do. Sadly again your party has no influence here and very little in europe
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umpcah says...
8:21am Wed 26 May 10