Mr Nick Hawkins (Surrey Heath, Conservative)

I have a brief query that I hope that the Minister can clear up. In the clause, the Government are proposing to amend a reference to the Theft Act 1968, which, as the Minister knows, is one of the principal foundations of modern criminal law. Like all lawyers, I am very familiar with it. Is there any particular significance in replacing

''an offence under section 12(1) of the Theft Act 1968''

with

''one which is a summary offence'',

as is proposed in subsection (4)? I want the Minister to shed some light on that, before we let it through on the nod.

Mr John Denham (Minister of State (Police, Courts and Drugs), Home Office; Southampton, Itchen, Labour)

One hates to deal with such matters when one is up against an hon. Member who has long experience as a criminal lawyer, and who knows these aspects of the law inside out.

The specific answer to the hon. Gentleman's question is that subsection (4) makes a small amendment to section 24(3)(b) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 to make it clear that any

arrestable offence, which is triable summarily only, is excluded from the power to arrest for an attempt to commit such an offence.

I am unsure whether the Committee wishes me to speak at length on this clause, so I will not go into great detail. It addresses three measures that create difficulties for the police in sensibly enforcing the law; introducing the power of arrest will give them a significant advantage.

I should, perhaps, have known early on in my time as a Member of Parliament that assaulting a police officer is not, directly, an arrestable offence, but I learned that that is the case after I became a Home Office Minister, and I was surprised—as have been most other people with whom I have discussed this matter. We address a lacuna in the law by making this and other changes.

Mr Nick Hawkins (Surrey Heath, Conservative)

The Minister has a lot of material that he might not want to detain the Committee with this afternoon but, in the light of what he has said, I would find it helpful—as, perhaps, would other Committee members, and in particular those who are also lawyers—if the Minister were to circulate in a letter to us the part of his brief that comes under the heading, ''If pressed'' because I wish to understand what is being done. The Bill does not make that clear.

I do not think that there is anything sinister here, but I would like some clarification. If the Minister is able to say that he will write to me and other Committee members setting out the matter in a little more detail, I am sure that that will suffice.

Mr John Denham (Minister of State (Police, Courts and Drugs), Home Office; Southampton, Itchen, Labour)

I would be happy to do that.

The key thing that we are trying to do is to enable the police to be in a position where they can arrest suspects after the event—after a suspect has left the crime scene. They are unable to do that at present.

I would be happy to help the hon. Gentleman by setting out that simple concept in as complicated legal language as possible, and to copy in other Committee members. The Committee knows the area where the police are currently unable to take action, and I am sure that it will support closing the gap, as is proposed here.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 43 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Schedule 6 agreed to.

Clause 44 ordered to stand part of the Bill.