Part 5: Other provisions about safety standards, etc. New Homes Ombudsman scheme Section 140: Power to require persons to join scheme and provide information Effect
This section creates a power for the Secretary of State to make regulations which will require developers of new build homes, who are within scope, to join the scheme and remain members of the scheme for a specified period. The Secretary of State may also in regulations set out certain publicity requirements for members of the scheme, requiring developers to provide information about the scheme, which may include requiring developers of new build homes to obtain a certificate to prove or advertise their membership. The regulations may require scheme members to inform certain persons, such as purchasers of new build homes, that the New Homes Ombudsman scheme exists.
	In such regulations the Secretary of State may set out the framework for enforcement including: the investigation of suspected breaches in relation to these duties, conferring functions on a person in relation to sanctions and investigations, types of sanctions for failing to comply, and the right to appeal the sanctions. This section also provides the Secretary of State with a power to make payments to any person on whom the regulations confer enforcement functions. Any person on whom the regulations confer enforcement functions may be required to have regard to statutory guidance concerning the exercise of those functions.
	There are differences in law, custom and practice across the United Kingdom and the regulations will need to accommodate these differences, particularly in relation to any enforcement framework and civil sanctions. To make sure that the regulations take into account the differences across the United Kingdom, before making regulations under this section, the Secretary of State must consult the Welsh and Scottish Ministers, and the relevant Northern Ireland department.
	The relevant Northern Ireland department is the department of the Northern Ireland Executive designated by the First Minister and deputy First Minister in Northern Ireland acting jointly, or the Executive Office in Northern Ireland, where a department has not been designated.