Clause 47
Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill [Lords]
9:00 am
Lorely Burt (Shadow Minister, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform; Solihull, Liberal Democrat)
Our amendment No. 51 is very much in the same spirit as the Conservative amendment No. 43. The difference is that our amendment acknowledges that there may be occasions when 14 days are necessary. Any arbitrary line that one draws will always have a problem one way or another. What is important about our amendment is that it emphasises the importance and urgency of making the decision as quickly as possible, and no later than 14 days. It keeps the 14-day deadline, but—like the Conservative amendment—it seeks to inject a note of urgency.
Closing a company for any period of time can be seriously harmful to its future. We wish to see those few words added to the clause so that no one can be under any illusion that it is very urgent—just as urgent as the issuing of the stop notice itself—to issue the other certificate as quickly as possible once there is compliance.