Clause 26 - Penalties under Chapter 1: General
Waste and Emissions Trading Bill [Lords]
10:45 am
Mr Norman Baker (Lewes, Liberal Democrat)
I beg to move amendment No. 16, in
clause 26, page 17, line 7, at end insert
'for a maximum period of one year'.
The amendment returns us to a point that was discussed earlier, namely the response of waste disposal authorities to the new regime that will be created for them. It also concerns the response of allocating authorities to situations that may arise. I am very much in favour of subsection (3), which clearly
sets out for waste disposal authorities the regime that will be put in place with regard to fines, when penalties will be enforced, the rules for calculating their amounts, provisions as to where payments are made and so on. Waste disposal authorities can be in no doubt as to the consequences if they fail to meet their targets or otherwise behave in a way that would incur penalties. That is admirable.
If we are to see the step change that the Government want to happen in terms of waste disposal methods, especially with regard to increased recycling, it is absolutely right to have penalties and to enforce them. So, subsection (3) seems absolutely admirable to me, but we have a rather different scenario in subsection (1). That is where the amendment comes in. In subsection (1), we see that the allocating authority may, notwithstanding the regime clearly set out in subsection (3),
''extend the time for paying the whole or part of the penalty or any interest on it''.
We suggest a 12-month limit on that extension.
Subsection (1)(c)(ii) even gives the allocating authority the power to
''relieve the waste disposal authority, in whole or in part, from liability to the penalty or any interest on it.''
That is a curious arrangement. On the one hand, the clause sets out clear rules with firm penalties, but, on the other, the allocating authority could say, ''If you don't like it, or if it is not working, we shall waive the penalty entirely.''
There are two dangers in taking such an approach. First, subsection (1)(c) sends the message to waste disposal authorities that, notwithstanding the penalty regime, they still have the option to argue with the allocating authority over making representations to the Government—I put it bluntly—that they should be exempted from paying the penalty because of their particular circumstances, that it should be scaled down or that they should at least have more time to pay.
That would be a charter for special pleading for waste disposal authorities, and I predict that they will be queuing up at the Minister's door saying that they should not pay the penalty that the rules suggest. That cannot be what the Government want. They cannot want the Minister of the day interfering and negotiating with waste disposal authorities, saying ''If you do this, you will not incur the penalty,'' or, ''If you do that, we can shave the penalty down.'' That would give undue power to the Secretary of State.
It would be much better to have the regime suggested in subsection (3), which states the arrangements simply. We do not have a criminal justice system that sets maximum penalties and then allows Ministers to decide whether the circumstances of a case permit the penalties to be waived. That would interfere in the judicial process, although it seems that a similar mechanism is countenanced in subsection (1).