My Lords, I am surprised at the noble Lord’s ferocity on this given the record of the previous Government, which although well-intentioned was hardly decisive and swift on this issue. I think his judgment that it would take three years to bring in fines is very speculative. However, I am sympathetic to his argument. Certainly, I have been listening very carefully to the idea that we need fines from the start.
For that reason, I am very pleased to see Amendments 16 and 23 from the Government in this group, which will ensure that financial penalties can be brought in quickly. Bearing in mind the Government’s philosophy, which is light-touch regulation, I can see that this fits in with that philosophy.
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Having had discussions with supermarkets themselves, it is important to point out that there are penalties other than naming and shaming—although naming and shaming is of huge importance to supermarkets. That process will in itself cost supermarkets money. If they get bad publicity, they will lose customers and that is probably the strongest penalty. I am sure that many noble Lords would agree, whether they are in favour of fines or not, that that naming and shaming process will matter to supermarkets because it has a financial impact.
It is also worth pointing out that there is a cost recovery process available to the adjudicator. He or she can recover the costs of an investigation if it is judged to be right. There is also the fact that the levy will be able to be varied in due course, so that it reflects the amount of time that the adjudicator has spent on each supermarket and the problems that flow from it. That will also have a financial impact. Although fines are in principle an important part of the armoury, I accept that it looks now as if we are to have a mechanism that will enable the adjudicator and the Government to respond rapidly—in quick succession—to ensure that fines become an active part of the deterrent.