Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill [HL]

The amendments, proposed by the Trading Standards Institute, would ensure that the primary authority principle built on the current voluntary arrangements. At this stage, it may be fit for me to say that I am a vice-president of the Institute of Trading Standards Administration, as is the noble Lord, Lord Borrie. The noble Lord, Lord Jones, has not been present at these Committee sittings so far and I should like him to know that we have both declared that interest. As I have complained before, there is so little written in the Bill that it is difficult to see exactly how the new Local Better Regulation Office will sit within the existing system. To my eyes, there is potential for some of the LBRO’s work to replicate the existing work of the home and lead authorities, but nowhere is it written that the LBRO will replace them. The amendments suggest that the statutory primary authority principle supersedes the current voluntary arrangements in order to rationalise business relationships into one consistent principle across the United Kingdom. Such an outcome would synchronise well with the ostensible aims of the Bill. Through this amendment, therefore, I ask the Minister to clarify further how the Local Better Regulation Office will exist within the current regulatory system, as duplication of work can lead to confusion and inefficiency, not better regulation, which is what I understand the Government are looking for. As it stands, the Bill is confusing and bureaucratic. As the Minister must know, we on these Benches are committed to ironing out some of the confusion and removing some of the bureaucracy to create a result that will be workable in practice.