---

Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill [HL]

I wondered whether the noble Viscount wanted to come back on any of that. I am grateful to him for his support. I forgot to say in my opening remarks that I have put a tick against a number of his amendments in this group, which is my code for saying that I agree with them. The Minister says that local authorities want central government to be clearer about their priorities. It does not seem to me that it needs to have Clause 11 to do that, because Clause 11 amounts very closely to the Secretary of State setting priorities, which is the heavy hand to which I refer. Some of these are difficult issues, but local government saying that it wants something like this is almost surrendering in a way which I am very disappointed to hear. I have to say that I have not had a briefing from the Local Government Association for this stage of the Bill. I went to find my mail because briefings so often arrive as one is walking into a Committee.