Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill [HL]

My Lords, Amendment No. 39 gives me an opportunity to discuss how we envisage primary authority partnerships will be publicised in practice. We understand the concerns of the noble Lord about how the existence of primary authority partnerships will be brought to the attention of local authorities. I like to think that we can put his mind to rest. The critical issue is the register of partnerships that the LBRO will be required to maintain under Clause 25(6). The primary authority provisions are, deliberately, closely built on the basis of tried and tested voluntary arrangements which local authorities have maintained. There are a large number of such partnerships and they are listed on databases maintained by LACORS and the Health and Safety Executive. When a serious regulatory issue arises relating to a multi-site business, all that local authority enforcers have to do is simply look the company up on LACORS’s or the HSE’s database and consult the authority which has taken on that role. In practice, there is no difficulty in finding out whether a partnership exists and which areas of regulatory activity are relevant. As with the existing voluntary schemes, the LBRO database will make this very clear. The process we are proposing is no more complicated than what authorities already require of themselves under voluntary arrangements at present, but it will be more rigorous and give businesses the certainty that they need. We feel that the amendment may rest on the assumption that local authorities will need to keep tabs on each partnership just in case something untoward emerges. That is not the case. Local authorities will only need to refer to it if there is a specific problem to be dealt with where an enforcement action is necessary. Local authorities that already participate in the voluntary guidance on home lead schemes will find that it is simply an extension of existing practice—but, of course, the database will be the responsibility of the LBRO rather than other bodies. It may be helpful to go through a hypothetical series of events. Say an enforcing officer in local authority A establishes that there is a trading standards problem with a business that needs attention. It is not an emergency, so the exemptions created by Clause 28 do not apply, and the requirement to contact the primary authority takes effect. All the officer needs to do is look up the company’s name on the database. If there is a partnership—there may not be, but if there is one—three pieces of information will be listed against it: the name of the primary authority, the field of regulation within which it has effect, and the contact details for notification of the issues. It will be very clear if there is a trading standards partnership in existence and about the appropriate steps for getting in touch with it. It is important to think through the practicalities of the scheme. We think that the scheme that we are intending to set up, which relies a lot on what has existed before, is practical and can work. For that reason we are not persuaded that the amendment is necessary.