Clause 36
Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill [Lords]
5:00 pm
Mark Prisk (Shadow Minister, Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform; Hertford and Stortford, Conservative)
I welcome some of the remarks that the Minister has made. He has identified that this clause seeks to provide powers to make orders providing for civil sanctions, but it then proceeds to do so right across the whole of the part. To follow his remarks, which edge slightly beyond clause 36, without testing your patience, Mr. Chope—I am sure that you will guide me should I stray too far—he is right to say that this part of the Bill, which provides many of the order-making powers, introduces a wide range of sanctions. We have fixed monetary penalties, discretionary stop notices and other enforcement actions. Those are provided not just for a single regulator, but for 26 different regulators, as well as all the local committees, so probably 30 bodies. Those include the Financial Services Authority, the Charity Commission, the Health and Safety Executive, the Football Licensing Authority and even the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority—so a really wide range of regulatory bodies.
Legally, the sanctions according to schedule 6, which I am sure we will come to in due course, apply to no fewer than 142 separate laws. Almost every aspect of our constituents’ lives will be covered by this: from housing to jobs, from animal welfare to protecting our children, from disability discrimination to Sunday trading. All of those statutes are listed in the Bill and are affected by the new range of sanctions that we are considering in the clause.
Most notably, the sanctions, which are often fines, will be imposed without recourse to the courts. The Opposition do not oppose civil penalties as a matter of principle, but we believe they are most appropriate for minor offences such as parking or speeding. The danger is that we may end up with the regulators handing out the equivalent of parking fines, which may prove rather attractive to them. That is bad for business and it undermines what we have debated so far—the concept of a risk-based approach to regulation as set out in parts 1 and 2.
Many business organisations are concerned. The Minister said that there was wide support. Let me joust briefly with two or three proponents on this side of the argument; he has mentioned two or three on his side. The British Retail Consortium is very concerned. It regards the section as “unacceptable”. The Forum of Private Business regards it as a deal breaker. The CBI says that
“business is still concerned that introducing more administrative fines will foster a ‘parking ticket’ mentality amongst inspectors, which will fundamentally change the existing relationship between inspectors and businesses”.
Let us be candid with one another: there are mixed views rather than a body of opinion that is wholly on one side or the other.