Proceeds of Crime Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 4:30 pm on 6 December 2001.
Dominic Grieve
Shadow Minister (Home Affairs)
That may be so. However, the removal of subsection (2) will, again, widen the definition of realisable property. In particular, it will enable the Clause to bite on property held in trust by the accused or the recipient of a tainted gift. Again, I do not expect the Minister to be in a position to enlighten the Committee further now, but this seems to be another area in which Scots law was different and provided a greater degree of protection. It would therefore be useful to know what the provision was designed to achieve, as, unless I am mistaken, it does not appear in the English section. I think that it was designed to protect certain interests held in trust. I presume that there was thought to be a good reason for doing that in Scots law—I see that a note is being passed to the Minister.
Mr Nick Hawkins
Conservative, Surrey Heath
4:45,
6 December 2001
Before the Minister responds, I have a separate point to make in relation to what my hon. Friend has just said. Clearly, the Minister intends to be helpful in trying to make the Scottish provisions mirror the English provisions. I see immediately that getting rid of subsection (2) will make the provisions of the Clause exactly the same as those of clause 83. However, subsection (2)(b) refers back to what previously existed under part 2 of the Bill, and I am concerned about getting rid of it. Are the Minister's officials confident that we are simply bringing Scots law into line with English law? I fear that we might be losing a helpful reference back, because subsection (2)(b) refers to all of part 2, and to how the clause relates to restraint orders. It might be sensible to get rid of subsection (2)(a), but is the Minister confident that we would not lose something useful if we lost paragraph (b)?
Mr George Foulkes
Minister of State, Scottish Office, Minister of State (Scotland Office)
I will start by making a general point with regard to the concerns of the hon. Member for Beaconsfield about the integrity of Scots law. That has been taken into account. Officials from the Scottish Executive Justice Department and the Crown Office have been involved, with Home Office officials, in the drafting of the amendments.
I wish to pay tribute to all of them. They have worked hard. The amendments have been drafted and tabled, and the notes have been provided—as Committee members have noticed—for my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary and myself very quickly, after the Government decided to alter part 3.
I can answer a question asked by the hon. Member for Beaconsfield by saying that where property is held in trust, someone else will have an interest, and people with interests are safeguarded elsewhere in the Bill. The hon. Member for Surrey Heath asked, in relation to the point that he raised, whether we are confident. We are confident.
Amendment agreed to.
Clause 149, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.
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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.
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.
