Amendments Nos. 100 and 99 would make the date given in the warning notice an appointment to arrange a trial date rather than the trial date itself. Amendment No. 101 would require the manner of giving a warning notice to be prescribed by order. My right hon. and learned Friend the Member for North-East Bedfordshire will no doubt speak to amendment No. 111.

I shall start with amendments Nos. 100 and 99. If a warning notice with a fixed trial date is given, the officer in the case will have to attend court if the accused fails to pay and requests to be tried. I wonder how many accused will fail to attend. What assessment has the Minister made of that? If the practice of requesting trial and failing to attend becomes established, it could prove time-consuming for officers. Surely it would be better to see whether the accused attends and means what he says, and then set a trial date.