Schedule 1 - The Office of Fair Trading
Enterprise Bill
11:45 am
Mr Nigel Waterson (Eastbourne, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 1, in page 182, line 6, at end insert
'of which at least 50 per cent. will be currently active in industry or commerce at the time of their appointment'.
I hope that what we have in mind in amendment No. 1 is clear; it leads directly from our previous debate. I am sure that all members of the Committee are as keen as we are that the new board should have considerable standing. I mention in passing that we broadly share the concerns of the hon. Member for Twickenham, who has tabled a starred amendment on parliamentary scrutiny. He has had his bite of that cherry and made his points well. I will move on rapidly, before I am ruled out of order.
The point of my amendment is that we do not want as appointees to those important positions armchair warriors, retired civil servants, long-retired business men, those with narrow experience or those who are no longer involved in the daily cut and thrust. That is why the amendment states that at least 50 per cent. of appointees should be active in industry or commerce at the time of their appointment. If the Under-Secretary suggests that there may be up to seven such appointees, I will leave it to those who are cleverer than me to work out how the 50 per cent. would work.
The OFT, as it is newly constituted, will have some sweeping powers and responsibilities and is in a position to have a dramatic effect on individual businesses and business sectors throughout the economy. People should therefore be appointed who are, in some measure, engaged in hands-on industrial or commercial activity at the time of their appointment. The other 50 per cent. could be appointed from the categories that I mentioned, or could have competition experience, as the hon. Lady suggested.
The OFT should not be made up wholly of people who represent some narrow consumer or competition interest. There may be some role for one or more academics, but people with hands-on, real world experience are important in this context. Although I hesitate to pray in aid regularly, I do so with the stated views of the former Secretary of State who is now the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions. In May 2000, he stated in a Department of Trade and Industry press release:
''The new Authority will give greater transparency and accountability to the OFT. More board members will give a wider range of expertise to the organisation, rather than executive power resting with one person. This will give businesses and consumers a stronger voice at the heart of the OFT.''
Our amendment merely seeks to put into effect the stated intention of the previous Secretary of State to give businesses—in this instance—
''a stronger voice at the heart of the OFT.''
The Under-Secretary may be about to tell us that the policy has changed in the meantime. If so, I can certainly understand the desire of any Minister to distance themselves from the record of the right hon. Gentleman in any of his previous incarnations. However, his sentiment seems eminently sensible. I understand that Mr. Bridgeman's successor has set up a four-member advisory panel that meets monthly to discuss policy, strategy, research and communication. It includes a former editor of the Financial Times and a leading competition academic and author. The OFT has been at pains to make it clear that the body is strictly advisory. It issued a press release that stated:
''it is not a shadow board or precursor to the statutory board''.
I assume that one can surmise from that that the composition of the board would be different from that of the advisory panel. It would help to have the Under-Secretary's more detailed thinking on that, which is why we tabled the amendment. However, at the end of the day, the amendment should present no difficulties if the hon. Lady still agrees with the views of the previous Secretary of State.