§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will make it his policy that any new regime for setting the level of fines shall ensure that there is an objective relationship between the level of the fine, the nature of the offence and the wealth or poverty of the offender.
§ Mr. JackMy right hon. and learned Friend made clear in his statement to the House on 13 May, at column 939, his intention that the new provisions which replace the statutory unit fine scheme should still require magistrates who have decided that the appropriate penalty for a particular offence or offences should be a fine fully to consider an offender's means before settling the level of that financial penalty.