§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the use of test purchases of alcohol by minors to enable detection and enforcement of licensing laws. [140001]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienBecause of doubts about the lawfulness of the test purchasing of alcohol by children it has not been widely used. A recent study carried out under the auspices of the Alcohol Education and Research Council showed that children had little difficulty in buying alcohol. A summary of the report of the study was published with the Council's annual report for 1999–2000, a copy of which is in the Library. The researchers concluded from their study that test purchasing would enable more effective enforcement of the minimum age laws. It is the Government's policy, as set out in our White Paper "Time for Reform", to amend licensing law to provide a clear statutory basis for test purchasing.