HL Deb 16 October 1985 vol 467 cc661-3

46 Clause 22, page 22, line 31, leave out 'within one month of' and insert 'as soon as practicable after'.

47 Page 23, line 17, leave out '5' and insert '2'.

85 Clause 31, page 32, line 46, at end insert 'or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to both'.

111 Clause 41, page 43, line 26, at end insert 'or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to both.'.

112 Clause 42, page 44, line 22, at end insert 'or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to both.'.

113 Clause 44, page 46, line 1, leave out subsection (4).

145 Clause 61, page 62, line 14, leave out '5' and insert '2'.

146 Clause 64, page 63, line 33, leave out from 'if' to 'the' in line 34 and insert 'at any time in the period of one year ending with'.

147 Page 63, leave out line 40 and insert— '(7A) A debtor who is engaged in trade or business shall be guilty of an offence if at any time in the period of 2 years ending with'.

148 Page 64, line 3, at end insert ': Provided that a debtor shall not be guilty of an offence under this subsection if, at the date of sequestration, his unsecured liabilities did not exceed the prescribed amount; but, for the purposes of this proviso, if at any time the amount of a debt (or part of a debt) over which a security is held exceeds the value of the security, that debt (or part) shall be deemed at that time to be unsecured to the extent of the excess.'.

149 Page 64, line 4, leave out subsection (8) and insert— '(8) If a debtor, either alone or jointly with another person, obtains credit to the extent of £ 100 (or such other sum as may be prescribed) or more without giving the person from whom he obtained it the relevant information about his status he shall be guilty of an offence. (8A) For the purposes of subsection (8) above—

  1. (a) "debtor" means—
    1. (i) a debtor whose estate has been sequestrated; or
    2. (ii) a person who has been adjudged bankrupt in England and Wales or Northern Ireland, and who, in either case, has not been discharged;
  2. (b) the reference to the debtor obtaining credit includes a reference to a case where goods are hired to him under a hire-purchase agreement or agreed to be sold to him under a conditional sale agreement; and
  3. (c) the relevant information about the status of the debtor is the information that his estate has been sequestrated and that he has not received his discharge or, as the case may be, that he is an undischarged bankrupt in England and Wales or Northern Ireland.'.

150 Page 64, line 13, after 'section', insert '(a).

151 Page 64, line 15, at end insert—

  1. '(b) references to intent to prejudice creditors shall include references to intent to prejudice an individual creditor'.

152 Page 64, line 28, leave out from 'or', to end of line 29 and insert—

  1. '(i) in the case of an offence under subsection (1), (2), (4) or (7) above to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years; or
  2. (ii) in any other case to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years,
or (in the case of either sub-paragraph) to both such fine and such imprisonment.'.

These are amendments which relate to the offence and penalty provisions in the Bill. During our earlier discussions about this Bill in this House, the noble and learned Lord, Lord McCluskey, raised some questions about these provisions. At that time, I undertook to conduct a review of all these provisions. The amendments in this group represent the results of that review.

The effect of many of the amendments is self-evident. For certain of the offences triable either way, the maximum term of imprisonment on conviction on indictment has been lowered from five years to two years by Amendments 43, 47, 145 and 152, and for some summary offences, which are considered to be of a more serious nature, an option of three months' imprisonment has been added to the monetary penalty by Amendments 44, 85, 111 and 112. Amendment 113 completely deletes an offence in Clause 44(4) which it is considered would more appropriately be dealt with as contempt of court. The remaining amendments in this group make changes to the offence provisions in the Bill.

Moved, That this House do agree with the Commons in the said amendments.—(Lord Cameron of Lochbroom.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.