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Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill [HL]

I understand the thrust of what the noble Lord is saying but I was interested in his comment that hundreds of local authorities cannot be monitored effectively by central government. If you are one of those local authorities, you feel that you are being monitored by central government, if not effectively. But in this context we are talking about monitoring by a single organisation—the LBRO. I am rather unhappy about what I interpret as applying an extra layer of bureaucracy. I believe that we have managed to get to 11 minutes past seven without using that term, which is quite extraordinary. This would mean another stage in the control. Each local authority will have guidance in any event. This would be an additional stage which would probably be too much for the local authority in practical terms and perhaps too much for the LBRO as well; it would certainly add to costs. So, reluctantly, I part company with the noble Lord on this one.