Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill [HL]

The amendment tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, gives us an opportunity to ask about the local aspect. I sympathise with her objectives. One of my worries about the Bill is that little discretion will be left to the elected members at the level of the locality. I declare an interest as a small farmer. Farming is highly regulated, and necessarily so. But leaving that aside and looking at the wider environment, one often hears grumbles about a particular official overdoing things. In those cases, people can talk to their local councillor and the message feeds back. A lighter touch often, and sensibly, arises. I would be grateful to know, now that we have the Local Better Regulation Office—everybody recognises, although you have to read the Bill pretty carefully, that it is actually central and national—how these local concerns are to be fed into the system. I am afraid that diktats will come from on high; perhaps that is an unkind way of putting it for the LBRO. The Hampton principles will be asked for. I notice that Professor Macrory says in a lot of his writing that penalties are not big enough and costs should be required. One can see Ministers under Treasury pressure being asked to ensure that more is recovered to pay for the cost of this and that. So there is a genuine worry that the Local Better Regulation Office and the system, which is no doubt being advanced in all good faith, will do almost the opposite. One can bleat to one’s member of the local authority, who will find that the officials are now judge and jury in their cause, and very powerful people, unless and until the subject of regulation appeals to a tribunal. Local authority members will have little influence. That is a worry, but perhaps the Minister can calm my fears.