Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill [HL]

My Lords, I am extremely grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Lucas. He has, as the noble Lord, Lord Maclennan of Rogart, said, worked tirelessly on this issue. He has held me to account in many ways and ensured that the Government have moved considerably to address his concerns. I am more than happy to give him as much commitment as I can, not on my own behalf, important though that may be, but on behalf of the Government, because it will be a team effort to bring in this provision. I said when we discussed this issue previously that we plan to lay the regulations by the summer. That is our timetable; it will be an important conclusion. I hear what the noble Lord, Lord Maclennan of Rogart, says about primary legislation and I understand the desire for it; in a sense it is where I began. However, we believe that we have the legislation in place and that we need to use the regulations in the Private Security Industry Act 2001 to enable us to do this. The noble Lord, Lord Lucas, is also right to say that we must make sure that we get the regulator right, which is what lies behind the proposals of the noble Lord, Lord Maclennan. The regulator must be able to do the job. I have already made that commitment to those in the industry itself, who are of course keen to see this come into being. We will work as closely as we can with the industry to ensure that regulation is robust and proper and that the regulator can carry out its functions. On the amendment before us, what I cannot commit to is a 12-month timescale because I do not yet know what the timetable will be. However, I can make a commitment to lay the regulations before Parliament. That in itself will give us another opportunity to consider and debate in more detail what is to happen. I hope that what I say now will satisfy the noble Lord and allow him to withdraw his amendment in the recognition that we are planning to do what he seeks to achieve. Our proposal means that all enforcement agents who are not Crown employees will be licensed by the SIA and that there will be no exceptions. The noble Lord, Lord Lucas, asked on Report whether there might be exceptions for some employees of large companies where a significant proportion of the employees are already licensed. That will not be the case. I should add that licensing will also apply to managers and supervisors in companies directing enforcement activity. Through regulations we want to drive up standards across the industry, in particular by setting strict competencies and conditions for those individuals who apply for a licence. On punishment for failure to comply with standards and redress, as I said on Report, a whole range of offences is set out in the Private Security Industry Act and specifies penalties where any person contravenes a condition of the licence granted to him. The penalty for this is a term of imprisonment not exceeding six months, a fine not exceeding £5,000, or both. The SIA also has the power to revoke or modify licences. These sanctions represent the most serious end of the scale, of course, and I understand that the SIA also uses sanctions such as written warnings and improvement notices as part of its compliance activity. Further details of those are set out in the enforcement policy code of practice. Along with other regulators, the SIA is considering whether it wishes to take on additional or alternative powers as recommended by Professor Richard Macrory in his independent review of regulatory penalties. I agree with the noble Lord that it is vital for debtors to have access to a workable system for complaints and redress. My officials are committed, as are the Government, to developing appropriate procedures with their colleagues in the SIA and the Home Office as well as with stakeholders across the system. For example, we need to consider what role might be played by alternative dispute resolution in this. For a complaints system to be effective, debtors as well as enforcement agents need to be aware of their rights, particularly in relation to the powers available to agents. I believe the Bill is clearly drafted in this respect, but my department wants to ensure that information about these rights is clear and accessible to the public. This will be achieved through information leaflets and so forth. Finally, although Crown employees will be exempt from regulation, I am committed to ensuring a common set of standards and a common appearance across the enforcement industry. I hope that the word ““commitment”” has been used sufficiently often for the noble Lord to feel that I have addressed the concerns he has raised.