Part of Proceeds of Crime Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 12:45 pm on 20 November 2001.
Mr Nick Hawkins
Conservative, Surrey Heath
12:45,
20 November 2001
I want to add to the excellent speeches of my hon. Friend the Member for Beaconsfield and the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker). I share their concerns. I want to make a further point to emphasise why the Amendment is wholly different from amendments about which Labour Members have been suspicious in the past. I doubt whether any of them will leap to their feet to suggest that we are trying to undermine the primary purpose of the Bill. We are clearly not talking about the defendants. We are trying to protect those who everyone accepts are wholly innocent people. They are innocent third parties such as the Lewes builder and the Beaconsfield grocer, who are conducting their normal business. They have no way of knowing that the person with whom they are doing business may be involved in nefarious activities that may subsequently lead them to be subject to the Bill's provisions.
A central function of Parliament, particularly of scrutiny in Committee, is to try to ensure that legislation does not, because of a side wind, have adverse consequences for the entirely innocent who were never intended to be the targets of the legislation. Even though the Minister will probably tell us that it will make the assessments more complicated, that is not a sufficient excuse. We must make sure, in every law that we pass, that we do not accidentally hit the little people. That is our concern.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
