Member

The noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, highlighted the difficulties facing our courts and the additional burden that the creation of new criminal offences may cause. We must be able to replicate the existing structure of criminal offences and introduce new offences, where necessary, to meet the requirements of changing product sector responsibilities. However, we intend to introduce civil monetary penalties for non-compliance with certain regulatory requirements that carry less severe consequences if contravened. This would, ultimately, alleviate the pressure on the courts and the prison system.