OCCASIONAL LICENCES AND YOUNG PERSONS BILL (Hansard, 15 May 1956)

LORD MERTHYR
My Lords, Section 127 of the Licensing Act, 1953, prohibits the employment in bars of young persons under the age of 18, and Section 129 of the same Act prohibits the sale of liquor to those persons; and similar provisions, under different enactments, apply to Scotland. At this point an anomaly arises which has been noticed and which has so far escaped correction, and it is that anomaly which I seek to put right this afternoon. The two sections to which I have referred do not apply to occasional licences; that is to say, to dances and other small functions when an occasional licence is taken out at a special time, or at a special place, or on a special occasion. Not only is it a fact that under an occasional licence a person under 18 may be employed with impunity, but it is also a fact that that same person may order, receive and consume there alcoholic drinks of any kind; indeed, as one chief constable has pointed out in his report, if a toddler orders a double whisky the police can take no action whatsoever. This Bill seeks to remove that anomaly.
Subsection (1), of Clause 1, referring to England and Wales, and subsection (2), referring to Scotland, apply the existing law of licensed premises to the holders of occasional licences. I hope that little argument is necessary in order to persuade your Lordships to give a Second Reading to this Bill. I might mention that it is not merely an attempt to correct a small anomaly, because complaints have actually been made of recent times throughout the country. An increase of drunkenness, and of criminal offences due to drink among young persons of both sexes, has been noticeable and this at a time when the general level of crime is, happily, decreasing. This is causing concern to magistrates, to police officers and to social workers alike. May I quote two sets of figures: in the City of Birmingham in 1954 eighteen youths were convicted of drunkenness; in 1955 the number had gone up to forty-six. Complaints have been heard from Scotland on exactly the same point. In a report issued by the Economic Research Council it is stated 402 that prosecutions of persons between the ages of 17 and 20 in the year 1946 amounted to 18.4 per 1,000 persons, whereas the figure for 1954 was 61.3. That is a noticeable increase in a period of eight years. I hope that what I have said is sufficient to put the case for this small Bill. I beg to move that the Bill be now read a second time.

§ THE J0INT PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (LORD MANCROFT)
My Lords, perhaps your Lordships might like a brief word from me as to the view of the Government on this small Bill. I hope I am not being in any way derogatory to my noble friend Lord Merthyr if I say that the Government do not feel strongly about it one way or the other. It is true that there is a loophole in the law, as the noble Lord has said, and that toddlers can go to a dance and order a double whisky. However, there is little evidence, on the whole, that they do. If this loophole exists, there is no reason why it should not be filled, and the noble Lord's Bill certainly fills it. Further, I feel that I must tell the noble Lord that there is no great evidence that the increase in drunkenness amongst young people, to which he has referred, is in any way attributable to this particular anomaly. Therefore, I must warn the House that if a Second Reading is accorded to this Bill—as I suspect it may be—there is no prospect of a great drop in the figures to which the noble Lord has referred. It does not seem that this is a branch of the law which has led to an increase in drunkenness among young people. Nevertheless, your Lordships may feel that this is a loophole in the law and that we can fill it. This Bill cannot do harm, and it may do good.

LORD REA
My Lords, I do not know whether speak for my noble friends on these Benches, but I should like personally to support the noble Lord, Lord Merthyr, in the Second Reading of this Bill which is intended to put in order this small anomaly. His pathetic picture of tiny tots—in both senses—is most moving, and I am sure that your Lordships will be pleased to give the Bill a Second Reading.