Licensing (Hansard, 11 February 1987)

§ Mr. Colvin
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what records are kept by licensing magistrates of applications for and permissions granted for licences in the Occasional Permissions Act 1983.

§ Mr. Waddington
It is for individual courts to determine the form of records maintained on occasional permissions, but licensing justices need to be able to ensure that not more than four permissions in a 12-month period are granted to the same organisation.

§ Mr. Murphy
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the recent meeting on the Pompidou group on drug abuse and illicit trafficking.
216W

§ Mr. Mellor
The eighth ministerial conference of the Council of Europe co-operation group to combat drug abuse and illicit trafficking in drugs (the Pompidou group) was held in London on 20 and 21 January under my chairmanship. The group is a multidisciplinary body which acts as the main forum for co-operation on all drug misuse and drug trafficking matters within Europe. The conference reviewed work since the seventh conference in 1984 and set a new programme of work for the group to pursue over the coming two to three years, comprising:

1 Practical measures for effective implemention of legislation to confiscate the proceeds of drug trafficking;

2 Mechanisms to improve co-ordination of controls in major ports and maritime surveillance;

3 Role of the media in shaping attitudes to drug misuse;

4 Role of primary health care personnel and short term crisis intervention;

5 Problems related to the operating and funding of treatment facilities;

6 Encouragement of co-operation and action by municipalities and local action groups;

7 Review of drugs legislation in member states in order to compare solutions adopted to deal with similar problems;

8 Preparation of a handbook setting out the division of responsibilities for drug questions at national level;

9 Detection and prevention of drug misuse in the armed forces;

10 Exchange of information on the role and effects of methadone in treatment.

The conference also decided that the group should continue to pursue the following topics on which work is already in hand:

1 Liaison between those responsible for airport control services within member states;

2 The role of the criminal justice system in responding to the needs of drugs misusers;

3 Ways of reaching young people particularly at risk of becoming involved in drug misuse;

4 Examination of the special problems experienced by female drug misusers;

5 The epidemiology of drug misuse in member states.

By consensus, it was agreed that the United Kingdom should continue to chair the group until the next ministerial conference.
A copy of the declaration of the conference has been placed in the Library.