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UCL in the News: Burden eased on business as rogue traders targeted
12 July 2007
The regulatory enforcement and sanctions bill, which has been published in draft for consultation, would allow councils to issue fixed-penalty fines to businesses in the same way as parking and traffic notices are levied.
The bill includes some of the recommendations of the 2006 report on regulatory sanctions carried out by Professor Richard Macrory [UCL Laws]. This found that current fines were not high enough to deter businesses from breaking regulations - for example, the penalty incurred for dumping dangerous chemicals or failing to protect workers may be lower than the savings made by cutting corners on safety practices.
Prof Macrory recommended standardised sentencing guidelines for convictions when offences came to court, statutory notices requiring businesses to comply with the law and a proportionate range of penalties. Fines would reflect the size of the business and the scale of the offence, subject to appeal to a regulatory tribunal. The aim would be to make sure offenders did not continue to ignore the rules and did not profit from their law-breaking. 鈥�
John Willman, 'The Financial Times'