Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill [HL]

The Committee will not be surprised to hear that I fully support the amendments of the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee. I do so because I strongly believe that if you give these powers to direct to the LBRO, everyone else in the process will conclude that it is absolutely clear who is in charge. My noble friend Lord Cope mentioned the cane behind the back, but the cane could be behind the curtain or anywhere. The power to give directions is recognised by everyone as significant, and we must pay attention to the fact that this body has that power. In those circumstances, local authorities will say to themselves: ““It is not sensible for us to prolong this discussion or argument. Why don’t we leave it to the LBRO to decide?””. It is said that the LBRO will be a small organisation and will not cost much money. Presumably, therefore, it will not have a very big staff and its legal department will not be very large. At that point I get a sense of incompatibility. The scheme is set out in the Bill in a way that is wrong. It would be one thing for the LBRO to be advisory and to give guidance, but to have the power to direct would be another. That would completely change the LBRO’s position in relation to all the regulators and the businesses we have been talking about. Incidentally, we should not forget middle-sized businesses. Generally speaking, they are under the most pressure. The large businesses can look after themselves—as can the small ones, usually. It is the ones in the middle that have the trouble. There needs to be a serious rethink about the reserve powers of the LBRO.