---

Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill

I am grateful for that. It is good of my hon. Friend to agree with me. It is important to emphasise the Government’s thoughts in terms of the corporate nature of the offence. A similar situation arose in the Hatfield case. Again, the trial judge, Mr. Justice Mackay, ruled that there was insufficient evidence for prosecutions to be pursued against individuals. However, in sentencing Balfour Beatty for breaches of health and safety legislation, he commented:"““I have to say that I regard the failures of Balfour Beatty...as the worst example of sustained, industrial negligence in a high risk industry that I have seen.””" Those two examples make a compelling case for saying that it is not enough to rely on individual liability to address corporate failures. There is a need for some wider form of liability for holding companies to account. The Bill addresses that problem by shifting the focus—