Clause 4

HC Deb 03 February 1982 vol 17 cc467-9

CLOSING ORDERS ETC.—PROCEDURE AND APPEALS

Mr. Raison

I beg to move amendment No. 17, in page 4, line 1, leave out subsections (1) and (2).

Mr. Deputy Speaker

With this it will be convenient to take Government amendments Nos. 22, 24, 25 and 26.

Mr. Raison

Another of the undertakings that I gave in Committee was to consider whether an operator should have the right: to make representations to the council before a closing order was made. Amendment No. 22 is the result of our further deliberations. It has been agreed by the local authority associations and by the three trade associations.

Thus, if the council considers that it would be desirable for an order to be made, it will be required to serve notice on the keeper giving its reasons for making the order. In that connection, while there is no objection in principle to its revealing the names and addresses of the initial complainants, for obvious reasons we believe that it is right that it should not do so without first obtaining the complainants' consent. If the keeper of the premises wishes to make representations to the council against the order being made, he will then have 28 days in which to write to the council requiring it to hear his case. The council will not be able to make the order during those 28 days or, once the keeper has requested a hearing, until a reasonable period has elapsed for him to make his representations.

In Committee the hon. Member for Workington (Mr. Campbell-Savours) drew attention to the problem that might face a council when it is unable to identify the person who has the conduct or management of the premises on which it wishes to serve an order. We undertook to seek the views of the local authority associations about that. They have confirmed that there could be situations when it could be difficult to establish the identity of the person in control of the premises. We believe that it would be desirable to specify directly in greater detail the procedures for serving notices, and to enable orders to be addressed simply to "the keeper-. That is what amendment No. 26 tries to do. The procedure has been approved by the local authority associations. Amendments Nos. 17, 24 and 25 are consequential drafting amendments.

Amendment agreed to.

Amendments made:

• No. 18, in page 4, line 5 leave out 'Each of the following orders' and insert
• 'A district council shall take all relevant circumstances into consideration when determining whether to make'.
• No. 19, in page 4, line 6 leave out 'and' and insert 'or'.
• No. 20, in page 4, line 14 at end add
• 'but a council may not make such an order unless residents in the neighbourhood of the premises to which the order, if made, would relate have complained of disturbance such as is mentioned in section 3(1) above'.
• No. 21, in page 4, leave out lines 15 and 16.
• No. 22, in page 4, line 16 at end add—
1. '(3A) If a district council propose—
1. (a) to make a closing order; or
2. (b) to make such a variation order as is mentioned in subsection (3)(b) above, they shall first serve a notice in accordance with subsections (4) to (4C) below—
1. (i) giving their reasons for seeking to make the order; and
2. (ii) stating that within 28 days of service of the notice the keeper of the premises to which the order, if made, would relate may in writing require them to give him an opportunity to make representations to them concerning the matter.
2. (3B) Where a notice has been served under subsection (3A) above, the district council shall not determine the matter until either—
1. (a) the keeper has made representations to them concerning it; or
2. (b) the period during which he could have required them to give him an opportunity to make representations has elapsed without his requiring them to give him such an opportunity; or
3. (c) the conditions specified in subsection (3C) below are satisfied.
3. (3C) The conditions mentioned in subsection (3B) above are—
4. (a) that the keeper has required the district council to give him an opportunity to make representations to them;
5. (b) that the council have allowed him a reasonable period for making his representations; and
6. (c) that he has failed to make them within that period.
• (3D) The council shall not reveal to the keeper the name or address of any person who has made a complaint 469 concerning the premises, unless they have first obtained the consent of the person who made the complaint.'—[Mr. Raison.]

Mr. Raison

I beg to move amendment No. 23, in page 4, line 16, at end add— '(3E) Where the keeper of any premises has applied for a variation order or a revocation order, the council shall be deemed to have refused the application if they fail to determine the matter within eight weeks from the date on which the application was made.'. The amendment follows a further undertaking given in Committee to the hon. Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Whitlock). Its purpose is to ensure that district councils deal quickly with applications made to them by the keepers of premises, which are the subject of a closing order, for the order to be revoked entirely or for the hours specified in it to be varied. Since the applicant will have a right of appeal to the magistrates court against a refusal by the council to grant such an order, the effect of the amendment will be that, unless the council determines the matter within eight weeks, he may then appeal to the court as if the application had been refused. There are analogies in the planning law with that procedure.

The amendment has been drafted in consultation with the local authority associations and the trade organisations. The Government hope that councils will normally deal with applications expeditiously.

Amendment agreed to.

Amendments made: No. 24, in page 4, line 16, at end add—

'(3F) When a council make an order under section 3 above, they shall serve a copy in accordance with subsections (4A) to (4C) below. (3G) A closing order and any such variation order as is mentioned in subsection (3)(b) above shall come into force 21 days after the date of service.'. No. 25, in page 4, line 17, leave out 'Any other variation order' and insert 'A variation order other than a variation order such as is mentioned in subsection (3)(b) above'. No. 26, in page 4, line 18, at end add— `(4A) Any document required to be served under this section shall be served on the keeper of the premises to which it relates and may be served on him by post. (4B) For the purposes of service any such document may be addressed to the keeper at the premises to which it relates. (4c) The keeper may be addressed either by name or by the description of "the keeper" of the premises (describing them).'.—[Mr. Raison.]