Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 73: 73: Clause 25, page 11, line 8, at end insert— ““( ) providing general advice to other local authorities with regard to enforcement action in relation to relevant functions including liaising between local authorities and regulated persons.”” The noble Baroness said: I shall speak also to Amendment No. 74 and, as under the previous amendment, to Clause 25. Both amendments are probing; the first would establish the exact scope of the proposed primary authority principle. The Bill is quite wide. Both the Trading Standards Institute and the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health have asked me to raise the amendments to establish whether the primary authority principle will cover all matters covered by the current voluntary principle. I do not need to go through the background of how the home authority principle has worked, but it has been regarded as successful, allowing business to seek advice and guidance from one source. The home authority has also been able to act as a conduit for complaints from other local authorities about the business. That has the efficiency that results from cutting down the number of communications, as the Committee will well understand. The home authority can advise other authorities of action agreed with the business and confine the amount of toing and froing. The business is then able to concentrate on putting steps in place to deal with the position. The second amendment is intended to clarify the intention for the future as regards the relationship between the statutory and the voluntary principle. I know that there has been a great deal of consultation on constructing the proposals but there is a little lack of clarity as to whether the primary authority is intended to take over the voluntary arrangements immediately or over time. I do not suggest that the Bill sets out to stop organisations, businesses and authorities entering into voluntary arrangements if that is what they want—heaven forbid that we should ever get to that stage—but a little more clarity would be welcome. I beg to move.