Prostitutes' Cards in Phone Boxes

HL Deb 12 June 2000 vol 613 cc185-6WA

Baroness Gould of Potternewton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What responses they have received to the consultation exercise entitled New Measures to Control Prostitutes' Cards in Phone Boxes and what action they now propose to take. [HL2793]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Bassam of Brighton)

My honourable friend the Minister of State at the Home Office, Mr Clarke, received 60 replies to the consultation exercise. Many respondents did not comment directly on the need for action and just under half (27) specifically stated there was a problem which needed to be tackled. Only four did not feel action should be taken. We therefore conclude we need to take specific action to deal with prostitutes' cards in phone boxes.

However, it remains the case that this is very much a local problem and action needs to be targeted at the specific areas involved.

No single straightforward solution emerged from the consultation responses, although there was strong support both for call barring and for a new criminal offence. We accept that action should be taken on both these fronts together.

On call barring, we are asking the Director-General of OFTEL to consider how best to develop an effective scheme in consultation with the industry.

On the new criminal offence, respondents to the consultation exercise expressed differing views on how an effective new criminal offence could be formulated. They highlighted the need for the new offence to fit coherently into controls and regulatory schemes already in place. My honourable friend, the Minister of State for the Home Office, Mr Clarke, has therefore asked his officials to meet local authorities, OFTEL, the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and other agencies to draw up final proposals with a view to legislating when parliamentary time allows.

In taking this action, my honourable friend the Minister of State at the Home Office, Mr Clarke, has looked carefully at whether effective measures against prostitutes' cards could lead to an increase in street prostitution, and whether, if so, the cards should be seen as the lesser affront. He raised this issue specifically as part of the consultation. However, the responses as a whole did not suggest this was a major concern. It was noted that street prostitution had not decreased with the advent of carding. Moreover, the number of prostitutes advertising in this way in London was estimated at between 250–400, but the number of cards produced was 13 million per year. Prostitutes outside London and Brighton do not normally have recourse to this particularly offensive form of advertising, although we are aware of small scale use of this form of advertising in a few other areas. My honourable friend the Minister of State at the Home Office, Mr Clarke, has therefore concluded that action against carding is justified and is very unlikely to be counter productive.

A summary of the responses has been placed in the Library.