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Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill [Lords]

We are always happy to discuss reasoned cases that are put to us. I know that my hon. Friend the Minister will enter the Committee stage in that spirit. My hon. Friend the Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston mentioned variable monetary penalties. Perhaps I should give an example of the potential benefit of the provision. If the security industry decided that it wished to use the powers in the Bill for wheel-clamping, the new sanctions could be used to tackle unlicensed wheel clampers or organisations that use wheel clampers directly. A fixed monetary penalty could be imposed for failure to hold a licence or a variable monetary penalty to remove profit made by unlicensed wheel clampers. I suspect that many hon. Members who have received complaints from constituents about the way in which wheel clampers operate will welcome that. The Bill will promote better consistency of treatment for business and provide a more effective and flexible range of responses for regulators on the ground, with a view to promoting compliance and minimising the unnecessary burdens associated with regulation in practice. The Bill will modernise the way we enforce regulations, with benefits for consumers, businesses, and regulators. I commend it to the House. Question put and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time.