§ Lords Amendment: No. 27, in page 19, line 34, leave out from "more" to end of line 37.
§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Miss Alice Bacon)I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment.
It may also be convenient if we take Lords Amendment No. 28.
§ Mr. Deputy SpeakerIf the House agrees, so be it.
§ Miss BaconThese Amendments would add to the qualifying conditions which must be satisfied before a court can pass an extended sentence on an offender and they will have the effect that fewer offenders will be subject to extended sentences.
§ Mr. CarlisleBoth in Committee and on Report I moved an Amendment to provide that one of the matters which a court had to take into account was the gravity or seriousness of the offence with which the person was then before the court when making the order for an extended sentence. On both occasions the right hon. Lady undertook to look 800 at the matter again and on Report she went so far as to say that if suitable wording could be found, it would be incorporated in the House of Lords. Following upon the Amendment in the House of Lords, she was good enough to write to me and to say that in view of her undertaking, she was drawing my attention to these Amendments.
However, she will be the first to agree that these Amendments do not in any way meet the point which I was making. I welcome them to the extent that they go, but I still regret that there is nothing in the Clause which requires the court to consider the actual offence on which a person appears before it when sentenced, and it still does not get out of the difficulty, which the right hon. Lady agreed should be faced, which is that under these provisions a person can be sent for long-term imprisonment on a minor offence at the time when he comes before the court. I still regret that, despite the efforts of the Home Office, the Government have not found what I believe to be a simple way to meet that point.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Subsequent Lords Amendment agreed to.