Clause 26 - Small amount outstanding: discharge of order
Proceeds of Crime Bill
5:45 pm
Mr Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland, Liberal Democrat)
I beg to move amendment No. 66, in page 17, line 32, leave out `50' and insert `1000'.
The amendment would delete from subsection (1)(c) the reference to £50 and would replace it with a reference to £1,000. The rationale behind the amendment is fairly straightforward. It seems to me that when we have a de minimis provision, we must be careful about the level specified. If we create a mechanism that allows for the recovery or discharge of orders in cases in which the amount remaining to be paid is that low, we risk creating a provision that will cost an awful lot more than it is worth.
Parallel provision is made in clause 25(1)(c). As the hon. Member for Surrey Heath said, £1,000 is the sensible level to set. A symmetry is involved, which is the basis of the amendment. The amendment is perfectly simple. The Minister is an honourable man of great common sense, and I invite him to accept the amendment and restore some of the will to live that I feel ebbing away from many Committee members.