Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill [HL]

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for raising this. This reason for including this provision is important. We feel it is important to have the opportunity to make clear the circumstances where if one needed to use restraint, it could be used. I too have had discussions with the enforcement group about this, but I have to say that other enforcement parts of the industry, such as High Court enforcement officers, take a different view. However, I am interested in drawing this up only if there is a clear desire for us to do so and if there is agreement on how it would work. It is designed to make sure that if restraint is to be used, the circumstances for doing so are very clear. I hope he will agree that this is a positive approach. I understand that some elements of the enforcement industry do not want it for the reasons outlined by the noble Lord, but others do. What I will commit to is that if when we have consulted on this there is a clear view that the existing powers are sufficient, I shall reconsider it. We do not have to do anything about the regulations. However, I do not want to lose the flexibility provided in the Bill to enable such a power to be taken forward if there is a clear view that this would be helpful to the industry and, indeed, to those who could be on the receiving end. On that basis, I hope the noble Lord will agree to withdraw his amendment in the knowledge that I will not do anything with it unless it becomes clear that the provision is needed.