Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill

Again, my right hon. and learned Friend draws attention to an important point. That may be true in some circumstances, but not in all. The board of the holding company—the parent company—may be a mirror image of the board of the subsidiary company, so it would be strange if it were not able to look through. The crucial words in the new clause are"““failed to take all reasonable steps””." The question is what may be reasonable in the circumstances, and the degree of control may be relevant to establishing whether it is reasonable for the holding company to have sought further controls over its subsidiaries. I take seriously the distinction between management and shareholder investment and shareholder control which my right hon. and learned Friend highlights. Those aspects were considered when the clause was drafted and the test of reasonableness included. The concept of reasonableness may need refining. It is important to put it on record that the matter requires further consideration. I hope that the Government will take the new clause in the spirit in which it was tabled to ensure that justice is delivered and that groups acknowledge their responsibilities. Trying to ring-fence a risk within a particular operating company is not an acceptable way of managing risk. The other amendments in the group deal with the fundamental distinction between unincorporated associations and partnerships, which are not included in the ambit of the Bill. Clause 1(2) merely specifies a corporation, a department or other body listed in schedule 1 and a police force as the organisations that would be caught by the clause. The Joint Committee commented that"““a gap in the law will remain for large unincorporated bodies such as big partnerships of accounting and law firms. We are concerned that such major organisation will be outside the scope of the Bill and would recommend that the Government look at a way in which they could be brought within its scope.””" We discussed that in Committee. The Government accepted that there was an argument, but felt that it was too complex to legislate with respect to unincorporated associations, or that there were not sufficient cases to warrant such a provision, because of the nature of partnerships. That creates an artificial distinction. As I recall from our previous discussions, only about a dozen cases a year were likely to fall within the ambit of the legislation. I would feel uncomfortable if an event occurred that resulted in loss of life yet the business concerned did not fall within the ambit of the Bill merely because of the way in which it had organised itself—particularly given that a business can choose whether to incorporate itself or to operate on a different basis, such as a partnership, which we see in many fields. Taking the example of health services, GPs traditionally tend to operate as partnerships; the way that the profession has established itself may be a quirk of history. Several companies operate in the health sector, including in out-of-hours services. The Bill will catch a service provided by a company but not by a partnership, even though that is merely a function of how the business or enterprise has been organised. It is strange to have that fundamental distinction whereby one is caught and the other is not. We have addressed that fundamental problem at length and will continue to return to it. The Minister has accepted that unincorporated associations and partnerships are captured in several pieces of legislation. For example, the 1974 Act frames it in the context of the word ““employers””. If a constituent came to me having lost a loved one and said, ““Why did you choose to create this artificial distinction in the Bill? If this business had organised itself as a company, there would have been a direct remedy in terms of corporate manslaughter, but because it hasn’t there is no liability.”” I would find that discussion very difficult, as we all would. That is why it is important that unincorporated associations and partnerships are brought within the scope of the Bill to provide a sense of justice and to ensure that we take the whole issue seriously and escalate its importance, while hoping that such events never occur. Depending on how the Minister responds and how the debate progresses, I will carefully consider whether to press amendment No. 1 to the vote.