Clause 15 - Penalties
Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Bill
2:31 pm
Ms Yvette Cooper (Parliamentary Secretary (Public Health), Department of Health; Pontefract and Castleford, Labour)
The clause sets out the penalties for the offences in the Act. The penalty for obstructing an enforcement officer is a fine of up to £1,000. Other offences would attract penalties of up to £5,000 and/or imprisonment for up to three months.
Hon. Members have made two different kinds of point. First, it has been suggested that that penalty would be too harsh for the small shopkeeper or for someone in difficult circumstances. The clause sets out maximum penalties, and the courts will, rightly, take account of individual circumstances. It would be a mistake to try to set out in the Bill what those detailed different circumstances may be. It is precisely the job of the court to take account of the individual situations of particular people who are being prosecuted for offences under the Act. That is the right approach.
I have also heard hon. Members' concern that the penalties may be too light for certain perpetrators, companies and individuals who choose to flout the law many times. I am sympathetic to the point that major tobacco companies are wealthy institutions with a huge amount of money. It is important to include the prospect of three months in prison in the Bill, and that will be an important deterrent. It is also important that this Bill should be in line with other aspects of the criminal law, but I will consider the points that have been made about the nature of the offences.