- 29/11/2021
- Posted by: Valerie Vaz MP
- Category: News
I was nominated to sit on a Designated Legislation Committee meeting on Monday 29 October 2021 relating to the draft Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008 (Amendment to Schedule 3) (England) Order 2021. This is about ensuring where there are 2 local authorities covering the business there is one authority for businesses to go to so that they have the appropriate response to public health emergencies. it gives businesses that are operating in multiple areas the confidence to know they will have a single set of rules to follow that are consistent, and enforcement will be consistent as well. 46,000 businesses with an existing primary authority partnership are getting informal advice—that is about as consistent as it gets. That is why the British Retail Consortium and other business stakeholders are keen to ensure in any future public health emergency that businesses can get that primary advice, rather than having to rely on different interpretations across the board
It was not clear from the Ministers response who designates the primary authority so I asked if he could clarify this and the Minister responded that it would be the Secretary of State who would designate the primary authority.