Commentary on Sections Schedule 7: Enactments specified for the purpose of section 62 Section 68: Suspension
173.Section 68 enables the Minister making the order conferring the sanctioning powers on a regulator to be able to direct the regulator not to issue any further notices imposing one of the new sanctions or to accept enforcement undertakings. The Minister will only be able to do so if satisfied that the regulator has failed on more than one occasion to comply with any duty imposed on it under this Part of the Act, to act in accordance with its published Penalty Guidance or Enforcement Guidance, or to act in accordance with regulatory principles (as set out in section 5(2)) or other principles of regulatory best practice. This provision is a safeguard against persistent misuse of the new sanctioning powers by a regulator.
174.The Minister may revoke the original direction given to the regulator if it is satisfied that the regulator has taken appropriate steps to remedy the identified failures.
175.Before making any direction under this section (including revocation of a direction), the Minister must consult the regulator and other persons he considers appropriate. The Minister must lay a copy of the decision before Parliament (or the National Assembly for Wales if the direction is given by Welsh Ministers). The regulator must publish the direction and take other steps to inform affected persons of it.