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Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 53: 53: Clause 38, page 16, line 38, leave out from ““amount”” to end of line 39 The noble Baroness said: My Lords, Amendment No. 53 would remove a regulator’s ability to calculate fixed monetary penalties by reference to ““prescribed”” criteria, and is similar to Amendment No. 112 moved by the noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, in Grand Committee. The reference to prescribed criteria caused some confusion when the issue was debated in Committee, and on reflection we accept that the provision could overcomplicate the sanction and are happy to remove it. The amendment would mean that fixed monetary penalties would simply be of a prescribed amount or amounts, set out in the order made under Part 3. That process will be transparent, as the level of penalty will be specified in both the order and the penalty guidance that the regulator will be required to publish under Clause 62. That will still allow fixed monetary penalties to be set at different levels if appropriate. For example, a sole trader may be given a £50 penalty, whereas a company might receive a £100 penalty, or the penalty for carrying out an activity without a licence may be £50 for one week or £100 for two weeks. I beg to move.