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Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill

I would ask the Minister to go on reflecting on this. I note his comment that the health and safety guidance suggests that you do appoint a director, and it might be worthwhile to highlight that in the Bill. The real question about the amendment proposed by my noble friend Lord James is probably whether the senior management had done their best to ensure that the lower echelons of the organisation had taken the trouble to avoid the kind of mistake which had taken place. If the mistake has taken place at a lower level, as it often will have done, as shown in some of the railway cases, the question arises whether, first, the senior management had arranged a proper system and, secondly, whether they had monitored it. The Minister’s answer is very helpful, but I am going to tease it for one moment, because part of his argument might have gone so far as to simply say, ““The jury shall have regard to all the circumstances””, and that would have been sufficient. When you start talking about considering a number of circumstances, it is worth considering the balance of the matter. The amendment bears further reflection.