Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill [HL]

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, not just for this evening but for the way he has brought forward these issues of regulation of the industry. I hope he will agree that I have encouraged him to do so from the beginning. The answer to the question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Maclennan of Rogart, is that it is not always a matter of a willingness to do something, but sometimes of finding the mechanisms to do it. One of the issues has been, and continues to be, the need to ensure that the Security Industry Authority is able to regulate the industry properly, in the way that the noble Lord has said. I cannot comment on its current status; I imagine that the role it performs is a difficult one. I am quite certain, however, that we will not bring this in until we are all certain that we have got everything properly in place. I have made that commitment not only to your Lordships’ House but also to the industry, which has been extremely generous—I single out Stephen Everson and Vernon Phillips, who have met me on several occasions to talk this through—and to colleagues in the Home Office, who have been very helpful. Before I answer specific questions, it may be helpful if I outline exactly what we have done and refer to the consultation paper Regulation of Enforcement Agents, from which the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, was quoting. The word ““other”” refers to companies, by the way. I agree that it is not very clear in the document, but it is not suggesting that we find a new gender. I too pay tribute to Ann-Marie Goddard, who has done an incredible amount of work in a very short time. I support what the noble Lord said about her work. Yesterday the Department for Constitutional Affairs and the Home Office issued a joint consultative partial regulatory impact assessment, with ministerial forewords signed by my honourable friend Vernon Coaker and myself, that explores the costs and impact of regulation. Much of what the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, referred to is contained within that document. We have sought to set out options for the future regulation of enforcement agents, and in the document we explore three. Our preferred option is regulation by the Security Industry Authority, an agency of the Home Office, as has already been discussed at length. We have included in our list of consultees organisations that we consider will capture most, if not all, of the groups the noble Lord includes in his amendment—and, dare I say, more besides. I should point out that implementing our preferred option can be achieved through secondary legislation, using powers in the Private Security Industry Act 2001. After the consultation ends on 25 April 2007, and after the work that will ensue as a consequence, the Home Office will lay before the House, before the Summer Recess, the necessary affirmative order. Following the making of that order, the Home Office and the SIA will take the regulation forward towards implementation, and we will be consulting with the stakeholders. I have made sure that the wheels are in motion. The Bill currently provides an interim solution while we work towards this through the enhanced and extended certification process. I hope I have assured the noble Lord that we have found a way of doing this that uses existing legislation, but also builds on the work we have already begun with the stakeholders concerned to make sure that we get correct and appropriate regulation. The noble Lord asked me some specific questions. Can this license bailiffs? Yes. Are standards important? Yes. With regard to financial penalties, Section 5 of the Private Security Industry Act 2001 creates offences, the penalties for which are imprisonment, a fine or both. Are we making sure that what we are bringing in for government-employed enforcement agents is of the same standard as what already exists? Yes. I have told the industry that I am committed to ensuring that this looks like a level playing field. We recognise that the two groups are already covered in different ways, but it is important that it should feel like one industry at the end of the process, as I described. On the specific point about the European Convention on Human Rights, my understanding is that the Scottish system is not the same. Scotland is setting up a commission that deals with this matter differently. I will write to the noble Lord formally and address his point, so that he can make his decision about what he wishes to do further. I would say, though, that the noble Lord is referring to the consultation document. He is quite entitled to raise these issues as part of the consultation process as well, and I am sure he will. I hope he does. I hope noble Lords will feel that I have taken seriously the points they have raised. We have endeavoured to get the consultation document into your Lordships’ hands before Report, and I have committed in Hansard to the process that will then follow, saying that the order will be laid before the Summer Recess. We are all committed to the proper regulation of bailiffs.