Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why clause 55 of the Deregulation Bill was not subject to or part of the public consultation on the Bill as reported by the Cabinet Office in its published guide to the Bill.

The Cabinet Office published a guide titled ‘Policy Guide to the Deregulation Bill’. The document states that the proposal to repeal the offence of selling liqueur confectionery to those under the age of 16 was not part of the Government’s public consultation on the Alcohol Strategy which took place from November 2012 to February 2013.

The proposal to repeal the offence of selling liqueur confectionery to those under the age of 16 was developed following the Government’s consultation on the Red Tape Challenge. The method of crowd sourcing was used to generate the Red Tape Challenge proposals; this involved a public consultation led jointly by the department for Business Innovation and Skills and the Cabinet Office, to ask businesses and members of the public for their views on deregulating in a wide range of areas of regulated activity.

Under the ‘Dangerous and restricted goods’ strand of the Retail Theme respondents were asked to comment on possible areas of deregulation in 24 separate acts, including the Licensing Act 2003. Whilst the policy proposal to deregulate the sale of liqueur confectionery was not specifically referenced in the consultation, the deregulation of age-restricted items was identified as a strong theme.