Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 6:46 pm on 5 February 2007.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Lord Bassam of Brighton Lord Bassam of Brighton Government Whip, Government Whip 6:46, 5 February 2007

My Lords, the issue of compensation is wider than the subject of the Bill. I do not think that that is the point. Whether the "Herald of Free Enterprise" case would have led to criminal prosecutions is a matter for some conjecture, although one should abstract one's personal view from these issues.

What I was trying to say to my noble friends was that, on the lower order of issues relating to health and safety, the law provides for sanctions against individuals whose conduct has contributed to health and safety failures. The proposed new offence, with a test of gross negligence, would not add a significant new liability or deterrence to that already provided by the law.

The second argument advanced in favour of individual liability is the desire to see responsibilities taken seriously at a senior level. That is part of a wider debate about director-level engagement in health and safety management.

We recognise the importance of director leadership. Over the past 12 months, the Health and Safety Commission has examined in depth with its consultees, its stakeholders and others the issue of statutory duties on directors for health and safety management. It has not advised in favour of legislation, but intends to return to the matter when the implications of other reforms are clear—such as the effect of the Bill, recent company legislation and the action following Professor Macrory's review of regulatory enforcement.

In the interim, the commission has asked the Health and Safety Executive to press ahead with producing new guidance on director responsibility, with the Institute of Directors playing a leading role, and with input from other business, the trades unions in particular, professional bodies, the Government and other stakeholders.

Just to remind ourselves: this Bill is designed to tackle a particular problem with corporate liability. We want to ensure that organisations will no longer be able to escape liability for their action because the law makes this contingent on individual guilt. Where individuals are personally responsible for a death, the law sets out a framework for holding them to account. We consider that it is the link between individual and corporate guilt that is inappropriate; and the primary purpose of the Bill is to address that problem.

The noble Lord, Lord Clinton-Davis, made a point about the "Herald of Free Enterprise". I am reminded that there were criminal prosecutions against individuals and that there was a public inquiry. He is entirely within his rights to question the findings of that inquiry and to raise the points he did. I put that on the public record for accuracy.