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Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill [HL]

I thank the noble Lord for his efforts in attempting to ensure the right balance is struck between providing a fair period of time for a business to contest the imposition of a sanction, while ensuring the process is not unduly long. In the case of fixed monetary penalties, we believe that 28 days would normally provide adequate time for a business to request an internal review of the decision to impose the penalty, so we are sympathetic to the amendment. We would like him to withdraw it in the normal way today, and we will consider what he has said about it. On Amendment No. 140, dealing with discretionary requirements, we are more concerned that 28 days may not always prove sufficient time for a period of representations and objections to run its course. In particularly complex cases there may be more than one party to the case and objections and representations may need to be shared among them. There may also be third parties that are affected by the non-compliance and the business may wish to offer undertakings to such persons under Clause 41(5), so we feel that a limit of 28 days may prove too restrictive. That is why we are less happy with this proposal. To be fair, we would like to consider what he has said and perhaps we can discuss this matter at a later stage.