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Health and Safety (Offences) Bill

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that intervention—I was about to deal with exactly that point in my brief remarks. I was grateful to the HSENI for arranging my meeting with David Mills of the Institute of Directors and Nigel Smyth of the CBI. The Institute of Directors has worked closely with the HSENI. In October, the two organisations published a joint guidance document, entitled, ““Leading Health and Safety at Work: Leadership Actions for Directors and Board Members””. Indeed, Mr. Mills has been a member of the Health and Safety Commission since 2002 and I was pleased to receive assurance of his support for extending the Bill to Northern Ireland. I was also grateful to Mr. Smyth for finding time for our lengthy discussion. The Northern Ireland CBI, like its Great Britain counterpart, supports the principle of the Bill, but continues to have several concerns about provisions to widen the imprisonment powers of the lower courts. I hope to respond to those broader issues in my speech on Third Reading. Meanwhile, I hope that it will be for the House’s benefit if I set out the process whereby the amendments appear before us.