Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill

There is not a great deal to add. The comments of the noble and learned Lords, Lord Lyell and Lord Lloyd of Berwick, were very helpful. I understand where the noble Lord, Lord James, is coming from. On his point of including a measure in the Bill, it is worth the noble Lord turning his attention to Clause 16, which has the bold heading, ““No individual liability””. Clause 16(1) states: "““An individual cannot be guilty of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of an offence of corporate manslaughter””." That appears in the Bill. However, as the noble and learned Lord, Lord Lyell, rightly said, that does not mean that those involved in a position such as that of a trustee do not have an overall responsibility for ensuring that an offence is not committed. Clearly, they have a role to play, but it is ultimately the corporate body which is guilty, not the individuals. Therefore, the scenario that the noble Lord, Lord James, envisages should not apply. We should all play our part to encourage people to continue to come forward and undertake the valuable work that trustees do in charitable organisations and trusts, even those which are profit making, or perhaps especially those which are profit making as they tend to have a rather larger range of activities.