I do not know the details of the case the hon. Gentleman describes, but I am more than happy to look into it. Given that he was in contact with my predecessor, I am sure that the information will be available in the Department. I think that we need to look at the whole range of issues. There is clearly a range of reasons why an award would not be paid, and they might all require different solutions. If a company has become insolvent, for example, there is a different set of problems than if companies are simply choosing not to pay. Trying to understand where exactly the problem lies is the first step towards ensuring that we can tackle it properly, because I agree that cases such as the one he outlines are unacceptable.
1.45 pm
Amendments 72 and 83 seek to remove the limitations we have proposed for any penalty. Amendment 72 would remove both the upper limit of £5,000 and the requirement that the penalty should be equal to 50% of the award, effectively allowing the tribunal to impose a penalty of any amount above £100. As we have made clear, the objective of the financial penalty regime is to encourage employers to have greater regard to their employment obligations without introducing an additional burden that would undermine their confidence to take on staff. Employers facing an unlimited fine are more likely to feel compelled to settle claims that they might otherwise
have defended and won, which is not necessarily in the interests of justice. The amendment would also allow the tribunal to impose a penalty where it subsequently awards compensation for a failure to comply with an earlier order or recommendation, opening up the possibility of employers being fined twice for the same breach.
Amendment 83 would preserve the upper limit of £5,000 but seeks to remove the cap that restricts the penalty to 50% of the award, thereby allowing the tribunal to impose a penalty of any amount between £100 and £5,000, the minimum and the maximum. Removing the 50% cap would remove some of the certainty that businesses have over potential liability if the matter goes to a hearing and, as a consequence, might affect their decision to defend a claim. That is a new measure that the previous Government did not think to try. We believe that it will have a positive impact, but we of course need to see how it works in practice. If the amount of the fine proves insufficient to encourage greater compliance, or indeed if it has a detrimental effect on businesses defending a claim, we have the power to vary the limit by secondary legislation and we will use it.