§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What extra funding they will make available to police forces in 2004–05 to cover any additional work arising from the Licensing Act 2003. [HL644]
§ Baroness Scotland of AsthalThe Association of Chief Police Officers has made representations to us about this and we have promised to look into their concerns. We want to work together to ensure that I he new legislation impacts properly.
The licensing fees will, for the first time, fund enforcement of licensing conditions by local authorities. We estimate that a minimum of 60 per cent of the premises annual charge will go to enforcement—about £30 million. In contrast, the existing licensing system does not provide any resources for enforcement. Furthermore, through streamlining the administrative licensing process, the Licensing Act 2003 should save the police up to £15 million annually.
Fees are not meant to pay for the policing of the night-time economy, for example dealing with street drinkers and anti-social behaviour. That is why we have been developing separate policy proposals for 99WA tackling alcohol-related crime and disorder which we outlined in our consultation document DDrinking Responsibly: The Government's Proposals on 21 January.