---

Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill [HL]

My Lords, I wholeheartedly support what the noble Viscount has said, his reasons for saying it and the way that he put it. When I first read the Bill, Clause 7 was perhaps the clause that startled me most. It is headed ““Guidance to local authorities: enforcement””, which seems relatively innocent. Yet in the first line one comes to the power of direction. This is an important constitutional point. I do not want to take up the time of the House by repeating what the noble Viscount has said. By not repeating it, I hope it is not thought that I do not entirely go along with him. We support him fully from these Benches.