Clause 33 - Pensions etc
Fire and Rescue Services Bill
9:25 am
Mr Phil Hope (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; Corby, Labour/Co-operative)
The amendments are misleading because we are dealing with separate criminal jurisdictions. As a result of the commencement of section 154(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, to which subsection (8) refers, the penalties on summary conviction will differ. Sentencing is a matter for the Scottish Executive, and they are awaiting the outcome of the McInnes report, a review of summary justice, before considering any changes to the existing policy. That, I hope, makes it clear that the systems are different and it will be for the Scottish Executive to change their sentencing policy if they wish to match the one that is being changed in the Bill. I hope that with that explanation the hon. Gentleman will withdraw his amendment. If not, I am happy to try to deal with any other queries that he has.