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Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill [HL]

It was remiss of me not to welcome the noble Baroness, Lady Vadera, at the beginning, but I thought that I would wait until I had heard what she had to say. I have now heard it and will comment on it. It was never my intention that local authorities should have to wait until the damage had been done before they could intervene. That was not the purpose of my tabling an amendment about the anticipatory arrangements. I simply wanted to raise the example of the Environmental Protection Act because I am told that this has made the provision completely unworkable. That cannot be right. However, I do not want to introduce any more guidance or statutory instruments into the Bill. Now that I have heard what the noble Baroness has to say, I just want to ensure that local authorities will take this pretty seriously. We have heard a great deal about consistency; the Bill is all about that. I forecast that what local authorities consider to be serious or a significant risk of seriousness will vary greatly. Never mind—at last something is being left to the discretion of the local authorities. For that, I think that we should all be grateful. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. [Amendments Nos. 152A and 153 not moved.] Clause 44 agreed to. Clause 45 [Stop notices: procedure]: [Amendment No. 154 not moved.]