Licensed Premises: Safety Measures

Mr. Swire
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations she has received on the use of plastic glasses in licensed premises.

Mr. Coaker
I have been asked to reply.

Other than previous debates in the House and representations made by individual MPs on behalf of their constituents, no specific representations have been made by the drinks industry or other stakeholders on the use of plastic in licensed premises. The Licensing Act 2003 already provides for the police to apply for licence reviews and for conditions to be attached to licences. For example, that the licensed premises should use toughened drinks glasses and bottles. The Violent  Crime Reduction Act 2006 will in due course also provide a new fast track alcohol licence review process that could lead to such conditions being applied in cases of serious crime and disorder. We are also committed to reviewing the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England that was published in March 2004, later this year.