Nick
Herbert: I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for
clarifying that that is the case.
Question put and agreed
to.
Clause 2, as amended, ordered
to stand part of the Bill.
Clause
3Assaulting
or impeding persons assisting emergency
workers Amendments
made: No. 14, in page 2, line 46, after ‘who' insert
‘without reasonable
excuse'. No. 15, in
page 2, line 46, leave out
‘assaults,'. No.
16, in page 3, line 1, leave out
‘assaulted,'. No.
17, in page 3, line 3, leave out ‘1(3)
or'. No. 18, in page
3, line 5, leave out subsection (3).—[Mr. Alan
Williams.] Clause
3, as amended, ordered to stand part of the
Bill.
Clause
4Provisions
supplementary to sections 1 to
3 Amendment
made: No. 19, in page 3, line 14, leave out from ‘section'
to ‘notwithstanding' in line 15 and
insert ‘2 or 3 of this
Act'.—[Mr. Alan
Williams.]
Mr.
Williams: I beg to move amendment No. 20, in page 3, line
17, after ‘vehicle,' insert
‘vessel,'. Again,
this is a technical amendment. We have provided protection for those
who provide the coastguard service, but we overlooked the protection
that is needed for the vessel in which they undertake their rescue
work. This amendment remedies that shortcoming.
Amendment agreed
to. Amendments
made: No. 21, in page 3, line 20, leave out subsections (2) to
(4). No. 22, in page
3, line 35, leave out subsection (6).—[Mr. Alan
Williams.] Clause
4, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clause 5 disagreed
to.
Clause
6Penalties
Mr.
Williams: I beg to move amendment No. 24, in page 4, line
19, leave out from ‘Act' to end of line 22 and
insert ‘is liable on summary
conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard
scale.'.
The
Chairman: With this it will be convenient to consider
amendment No. 25.
Mr.
Williams: We have already discussed the penalties. I
welcome the fact that the fine level is, at least, to remain at that
which I envisaged originally and that the changes to imprisonment
relate more to the assault side than to the impeding side.
Amendment agreed
to. Amendment
made: No. 25, in page 4, line 23, leave out subsections (2) and
(3).—[Mr. Alan
Williams.] Clause
6, as amended, ordered to stand part of the
Bill. Clause 7
disagreed
to.
Clause
8Power
to
Modify 2.45
pm Amendment
made: No. 27, in page 4, line 35, leave out from ‘Act' to
‘such' in line 38 and
insert ‘so as to add or remove a
person or description of person to or from section 2(3) of this Act;
and may make'.—[Mr. Alan
Williams.]
Mr.
Williams: I beg to move amendment No. 28, in page 5, line
1, leave out ‘them' and insert ‘carrying them
out'. This is a minor
drafting
amendment. Amendment
agreed
to.
Mr.
Williams: I beg to move amendment No. 29, in page 5, line
2, at end insert— ‘( )
Before making an order under subsection (1) which relates to Wales the
Secretary of State must consult the National Assembly for
Wales.'
The
Chairman: With this it will be convenient to consider
amendments Nos. 30 and 33.
Mr.
Williams: These amendments provide the technical changes
that need to be made to allow for the provisions in Wales and Northern
Ireland. Amendment
agreed
to. Amendment
made: No. 30, in page 5, line 2, at end
insert— ‘( ) The Secretary
of State may not make an order under subsection (1) which relates to
Northern Ireland without the consent of any Northern Ireland department
with responsibility for the emergency circumstances to which the
persons being added or removed, or persons of the description being
added or removed, respond.'—[Mr.
Williams.] Clause
8, as amended, ordered to stand part of the
Bill.
Clause
9Short
title, commencement and
extent Amendment
made: No. 31, in page 5, line 7, leave out ‘(Protection)'
and insert ‘(Obstruction)'.—[Mr. Alan
Williams.]
Mr.
Williams: I beg to move amendment No. 32, in page 5, line
11, leave out subsection
(3). This is a
technical amendment, relating to the order-making powers in the
Bill. Amendment
agreed to.
Amendment made: No. 33,
in page 5, line 13, leave out ‘only' and insert ‘and
Northern Ireland'.—[Mr. Alan
Williams.] Clause
9, as amended, ordered to stand part of the
Bill.
New
Clause
1Repeals ‘Section
44(3) and (4) of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 (c.21) shall
cease to have effect.'. —[Mr. Alan
Williams.] Brought
up, read the First and Second time, and added to the
Bill.
TitleAmendment
made: No. 34, in title, line 1, leave out ‘assault or
impede' and insert ‘obstruct or hinder'.—[Mr. Alan
Williams.]
Question proposed, That
the Chairman do report the Bill, as amended, to the
House.
Mr.
Williams: I thank all my colleagues who have given their
time to this. I know that several of them are involved in pre-election
work outside the House and have come in specially to show their
support. I appreciate all the support I have had from colleagues,
including those opposite. I owe the hon. Member for Teignbridge special
gratitude for having drawn the Scottish Act to my attention when I was
deciding what to do in respect of this private Member’s Bill. I
am indebted to him for that and for his further
support. I thank the
Minister for her co-operation and for the fact that at least I got an
anaesthetic before my arm was twisted. May I thank you, Mr. Benton, for
putting up with my incompetence in reading two amendments ahead,
instead of remembering what to say at the right
time? Question put
and agreed
to. Bill, as
amended, to be
reported. Committee
rose at ten minutes to Three
o'clock.
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