Commentary on provisions of Act Monitoring and enforcement Schedule 3: Regulatory and enforcement powers Suspension and removal of officers etc
Schedule 3, paragraphs 15, 16 and 17 also amend sections 259, 260 and 266 of the HRA 2008 to add new grounds on which the regulator can remove or suspend the officers of registered providers.
	Section 259 provides for the regulator to suspend or remove an officer, employee or agent of a registered provider during an inquiry in cases where it has reasonable grounds to believe that the affairs of the registered provider have been mismanaged and the interests of tenants or the provider’s assets require protection or, if as a result of an interim report during the inquiry, it is satisfied that the affairs of the provider have been mismanaged.
	Paragraph 15(d) adds a third case for removing or suspending an officer, employee or agent of a provider during an inquiry, allowing removal or suspension if the regulator is satisfied that the officer, employee or agent is either obstructing or failing to co-operate with the inquiry.
	Section 260 provides for the regulator by order to remove or suspend an officer, agent or employee of a registered provider following an inquiry in which mismanagement has been identified. Paragraph 16 of the Schedule extends the grounds to include obstruction or failure to co-operate with the inquiry as grounds for removing an officer, agent or employee.
	Section 266 lists grounds under which the regulator can remove an officer of a registered provider. Paragraph 17 of the Schedule adds a further case to this list where a person is obstructing or failing to co-operate with the regulator in the performance of its regulatory functions.
	These changes enable the regulator to act where it encounters unreasonable resistance from a registered provider’s officers, employees and agents.