Clause 8 - Offences under regulations under
Waste and Emissions Trading Bill [Lords]
10:15 am
Mr Bill Wiggin (Leominster, Conservative)
First, I apologise to the Committee if I was facetious in my opening comments. I felt that the point was extremely serious but that it would do no
harm to show that both sides were prepared to debate the matter fully.
Amendment No. 46 would have dealt with the question of the size of the fine, and would have been helpful. However, the majority of the amendments cover the length of sentencing. I do not agree that the Minister was especially helpful or clear in defining the difference between a three-month and a two-year sentence. He did not really describe the type of person that he thought might receive such prison sentences. However, he gave us good precedents from the Competition Act 1998, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, the Fair Trading Act 1986 and the Charities Act 1993, although I was grateful to him for taking my intervention as I still believe that in respect of that legislation, the purpose of the prison sentence is to prevent corruption for personal gain. It is likely that in respect of this measure, any corruption will be less obvious; therefore it will be more difficult for a court to decide, in what will be a complicated case, who is guilty of corruption. The Minister has done a valiant job defending his Bill but considering the titles of clauses 6 and 7, I am not completely happy that he has answered all my questions. However, it would be wise to return to the matter on Report, especially as consultation has been mentioned. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Clause 8 ordered to stand part of the Bill.