Good progress for health and safety penalties Bill

Labour former minister Keith Hill's Health and Safety (Offences) Bill has now cleared the Commons after being given an unopposed third reading. It goes to the Lords with a good chance of reaching the statute book.

Under the Bill, which has cross-party support, the maximum fine in magistrates' courts would be raised to £20,000 for most offences and imprisonment would be made an option for a wider range of breaches in both the lower and higher courts.

Mr Hill introduced amendments today extending the application of the Bill - which already applies to England, Wales and Scotland - to Northern Ireland.

The Labour MP for Streatham said that overall his aim was to "punish the criminally negligent who put life and limb in danger in the workplace, to deter those who are tempted to cut costs by breaking the law, and to render faster and more efficient justice."

He added: "I hope we've made a piece of history here today and people's lives will be better for it."

Junior work and pensions minister Anne McGuire welcomed the Bill, saying it was important that penalties "fully reflected the seriousness of offences" and deterred irresponsible behaviour.

On custodial sentences, Mr Hill told MPs that in "several cases over the years judges have remarked on the lack of imprisonment as an option and have said that they would have jailed the offender had they been able to do so."

Necessary powers

Responding to concerns expressed by business leaders about custodial sentences, Keith Hill said it was expected that imprisonment would only occur "in such serious cases as are likely to cause public outrage".

He added that should the Bill become law, a full consultation on new sentencing guidelines would take place and that "all interested parties" would be involved in the process.

Andrew Selous, Conservative MP for South West Bedfordshire, agreed it was important that judges were given the necessary powers to deal with "serious cases" in which people were killed and injured, and he hoped the measures would have a "strong deterrent effect".

Europe's largest health and safety professional body, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, welcomed the Bill's progress.

Ray Hurst, President of IOSH, said: "We hope this Bill will become law soon and help provide a safety boost for Britain. We're pleased that it will now apply to Northern Ireland as it would not be right for there to be an uneven playing field on health and safety punishment in the UK."

More information on the Health and Safety (Offences) Bill can be found in our news report of 4 February - Bill seeks tougher health and safety punishments.