Bribery Bill [HL]

My Lords, sometimes I wonder if the Secretary of State for Business et cetera is seeking to have the longest title, rather like Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysilio- gogogoch has the longest name of a Welsh village, or any village. I draw the Committee’s attention to paragraph 109 of the Joint Committee’s report, which quotes the evidence of Louise Delahunty, a solicitor of Simmonds and Simmonds, who noted the "plethora" of international sources of advice and stated that the Government were best placed to bring clarity to the situation. Then Mr James Maton of the UK Anti-Corruption Forum added that it was costing companies large amounts of money to develop policies and seek advice on a fragmented basis. During the Committee proceedings, I think I made the point that although it is all very well for a large company to go to a specialist lawyer and obtain advice, it is not so easy for the smaller company to obtain the necessary advice that would be desirable. The Director of Public Prosecutions, as paragraph 110 points out, said that centrally issued guidance on prosecution policy could be prepared by prosecutors, but he was prepared to draw a clear distinction between prosecutorial practice and compliance issues, such as the meaning of "adequate procedures". He considered that the latter type of issue would be best addressed by informal industry-led guidance, which prosecutors and juries would then take into account when deciding whether to charge or convict. Your Lordships will note that the prosecutors and juries could take into account such industry-led guidance. As paragraph 113 points out, the Secretary of State for Justice said that he was, ""very far from clear whether we as a department would publish guidance … We have to be quite imaginative about this, and we have got to take in our traditions, but that is what I undertake to do"." So he gave an undertaking to be quite imaginative. I say that because that will introduce my Amendment 17 in due course.