Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill

The amendment is in my name as well as that of my noble friend Lady Turner. I declare an interest; not only am I member of a trade union, Amicus, I am a past president of two of the founder unions, the ASTMS and MSF. I rise because you cannot imprison a corporation—you can fine it. It has been proved in the past—as referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Razzall—that, under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, it has always been difficult to find a controlling mind. It is easy to find a controlling mind in small companies, and they and their directors have been successfully prosecuted, but not large ones. It is right to refer to some recent events: the ““Herald of Free Enterprise””, the Kings Cross fire, the rail disasters at Southall and Hatfield, the ““Marchioness”” pleasure boat and the oil rig. Over a long period, it has been difficult to prosecute if individuals are not at fault. We are not talking about minor offences, but about the death of individuals. In that context, somebody in a corporation should be responsible at a senior level. If they were, there would be a different boardroom outlook, and health and safety would be even more relevant to the workings of a corporation. In a large corporation, ignoring health and safety is not good for those at boardroom level, but does not really affect them. Making an individual responsible would concentrate minds in the boardroom. Without going over all that my noble friend Lady Turner said, if we are to put teeth into the measure, individuals at senior level must be responsible for health and safety. I look forward to the Minister’s reply; this is an important matter that goes to the heart of the Bill.