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Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill [Lords]

The concerns we put forward in both groups of amendments revolve around democratic rights and what I believe are the rights of companies to recourse in law. The first group deals with clause 28. In essence, the amendments would remove the blanket power of primary authorities to prevent local authorities from taking the enforcement action it sees as necessary to protect the people it serves. The substitution of the word ““direct”” for the word ““advise”” makes a subtle shift in the relationship between the primary authority and the enforcing authority. It ensures that the relationship between the two is not simply one of master and servant, but rather of two organisations working in co-operation. After all, local authorities are at the sharp end of so many of the services that we as citizens need to live our lives. It is their enforcement activities that protect us from out-of-date food, dangerously unhygienic restaurants, buying faulty or counterfeit goods or work activities that pose a serious risk to employees or the public. Local authorities are democratically run by elected representatives, so it is not for anyone or anything to dictate any action that the authority does not consider to be in the best interests of the citizens it serves. One could say that the Government do that to local government all the time and that the autonomy of the local authority has been eroded to the point where it often feels that it is the instrument of an increasing controlling and centralised Government. Perhaps that is true, but when local authorities are at the sharp end and see actions taking place in their patch and on their watch that affect their electorates, I believe that they should have the ability to advise any primary authority that they really do not want to stand back and do nothing. The amendments will remove the blanket power of primary authorities to prevent other local authorities from taking enforcement action in their own areas, while ensuring that enforcing authorities will be made aware of any view on the part of the primary authority that the proposed action is inappropriate.