Member

I turn to the amendments tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Pidgeon. I am grateful to her for raising the important issue of enforcement powers. We agree that enhancing licensing authorities’ enforcement powers will be a must as part of the wider reforms we are considering. This is one of the key options to address the challenges that out-of-area work can create. We have already started considering what enhanced powers might look like. I assure her that stopping powers are being considered. However, any new powers would need to be backed by sanctions to make them effective, and it is likely to be difficult to work through the detail and impacts of any new offences in the time available for the Bill. But we will seriously consider what can be brought forward on Report to quickly enhance enforcement and public safety.