Clause 8 - Fixed penalties for offence of smoking in smoke-free place
Health Bill
4:45 pm
Steve Webb (Shadow Secretary of State for Health, Health; Northavon, Liberal Democrat)
Will my hon. Friend reflect on the fact that if a series of fixed penalty notices is issued, the person who issues each notice has no idea about the record of the recipient—in effect, it will always be a first offence. In court, presumably, a judge might have regard to the fact that somebody is a serial offender, and might reflect that in sentencing. Might that discourage people from going down that track?