Coronavirus: 'Loopholes' warning over new house party law
- Published
Loopholes have been identified in new powers to allow police to disperse house parties, the body representing rank-and-file officers has said.
Police can now disperse indoor gatherings of more than 15 people from more than one household under powers announced by Nicola Sturgeon.
Scottish Police Federation (SPF) chairman David Hamilton has questioned how the powers would work in practice.
Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said they would be used as a "last resort".
The new powers have been introduced to limit transmission of Covid-19 after health officials warned indoor gatherings could present "high-risk super-spreader environments".
Under current guidance, no more than eight people from a maximum of three different households should meet indoors.
The new law takes into account the varying size and composition of families and sets the limit for an indoor party at 15 people if more than one household is present.
But Mr Hamilton told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland the SPF has raised a number of questions about the legislation with the Scottish government.
"The legislation was only published yesterday and we have a number of questions with that... we've identified a number of loopholes.
"We didn't get any consultation on this at SPF, so we have a number of questions we've put back to government, but hopefully we can work something out about what that means and what they're meaning with this legislation.
"We'll also work with Police Scotland in terms of developing that operational guidance."
He said there were concerns about how officers will know how many people are inside at a particular event, and how they can identify which households each attendee is from.
Encouragement over enforcement
Mr Hamilton claimed the legislation, which came into force on Friday, would be seldom used and he described the new powers as being about "messaging".
He said: "Fundamentally, this is a messaging bit of legislation.
"We don't expect to see it being used frequently and we'll continue with the approach of educating and engaging people without having to use powers."
Mr Hamilton later said officers "would not hesitate" to use the powers if necessary, but such instances would be rare.
At the first minister's daily briefing, Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said officers would always look to encourage people to do right the thing before turning to enforcement.
He said he would continue to work with the SPF and may talk to its representatives after the briefing.
- Published27 August 2020
