§ [No 12]
§ Clause 14, page 14, line 20, leave out "one" and insert "two".
EARL FERRERSMy Lords, I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 12. Your Lordships will recollect that when the Bill was last before you the noble Lord, Lord Hoy, moved an Amendment to increase the maximum penalty under the agricultural safety legislation from £50 to £500 rather than to the figure of £100 which the Government pro. posed at that time. After discussion, your Lordships allowed the Government's proposal for £100 to stand. When this matter was discussed in another place it was suggested that a figure higher than £100 should be written into the Bill, and after discussion with numerous bodies interested in the matter, which were by no means unanimous in their view, the figure of £200 was inserted in another place. I hope that your Lordships and the noble Lord, Lord Hoy, will agree to the Amendment being made. I beg to move.
§ Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said Amendment.—(Earl Ferrers.)
§ LORD HOYMy Lords, I am grateful to the noble Earl and to another place for making this change in the Bill. The offence dealt with in the clause is a crime for which a fine of £50 is not sufficient. If people indulge in this form of depredation they should be made to pay. I sug- 847 gested £500 in the hope that the Government would settle for £250. In the event they decided in another place to make it £200.