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Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill [HL]

We have listened to what the Minister said, which seems to raise a point of principle, not just of detail. I understood him to say that when the department contemplated introducing the Bill, it had consultations with the public and various regulatory bodies. A number of them said that they did not want to be part of this procedure because they thought that they already had sufficient and adequate criminal and civil sanctions. Is that not missing a pretty fundamental point that there are other interests here—those of the consumer and, indeed, the Government, who are legislating on the basis that the Macrory review recommended that these powers should be given to regulators? Are we really saying that the Government simply sit there passively and say, ““Well, the gas and electricity regulator does not want to take any notice of this, therefore we will not put it in the Bill””? That seems to ignore Macrory’s significant recommendations that the Government are asking us to implement—contrary to the wishes of the noble Lord, Lord Lyell.