§ 7. Mr. Osborneasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, since magistrates' courts are reluctant to impose maximum fines, if he will introduce legislation to treble all maximum fines because of the depreciation of money, and so encourage more realistic monetary punishments to be inflicted.
§ Mr. R. A. ButlerIt would not be appropriate to treble all existing fines without reference to the nature of the offence and the date when the fine was last fixed. I am, however, reviewing existing small statutory fines, and careful consideration is given to the level of fines in new legislation.
§ Mr. OsborneI thank my right hon. Friend for looking into the matter, but will he bear in mind the undesirability of sending men to prison for short sentences and the greater desirability of imposing a fine as punishment? In view of the depreciation of money, ought not the amount to be increased according to the fall in the currency?
§ Mr. ButlerThe difficulty of absolutely satisfying my hon. Friend is that one has to pay some attention to the nature of the offence and the date of the legislation which covers the fine. Of course, we shall review all these matters. I can, however, give no general undertaking.