Violent Crime Reduction Bill

moved Amendment No. 71:"Page 11, line 25, leave out paragraph (c)." The noble Baroness said: In moving Amendment No. 71, I shall speak also to Amendments Nos. 96 to 100 inclusive. Given the arbitrary nature of the way in which charges for alcohol disorder zones might be imposed, it seems extraordinary that the setting out of the appeals process has been left to regulations. There seems to be a considerable lapse in attention to detail in this particular part of the Bill. We believe that it is fundamentally important that an individual who is held liable to pay certain charges is able to appeal that decision and appeal the rate at which he is being charged. At present, we have not been given the opportunity to look at exactly what that appeals process will be. There is a need for a proper check on the broad powers being conferred on local authorities through the alcohol disorder zones scheme, but at present it is being left to the Secretary of State to create that process by regulations without the level of scrutiny that we should have at this stage. Exactly what is the appeals process that the Government intend to put in place? My proposed new clauses suggest a method by which a licence holder might appeal against the designation of a zone in its entirety or regarding a specific area within the zone. Although Clause 12(9) makes provision for appeals relating to the payment and enforcement of the charge—in effect, against the charging provisions—no system is proposed by which one can challenge the designation itself. A business, or indeed a group of businesses, might well be affected by the designation terms of revenue as well as by the actual payment of the charges. It might be that people will be deterred from coming into an alcohol disorder zone—for example, to eat at a family restaurant—because of the negative connotations that such a designation may carry. Therefore, we believe that it would be sensible to provide for a process that allows such an appeal to take place—and is guaranteed to allow such an appeal—rather than exposing local authorities to the possibility of judicial review proceedings every time a designation is challenged. We hope that the Minister is able to accept our proposals. I beg to move.