Clause 11 - Super-complaints to the OFT
Enterprise Bill
6:45 pm
Mr Mark Field (Cities of London and Westminster, Conservative)
I shall not comment on the contribution of the hon. Member for North-East Derbyshire, not least because it would take me a long time to get my head around the idea.
The clause is extremely important. It is at the core of many of the concerns that we shall discuss on other amendments; if not this evening, at some time on Thursday. My hon. Friend the Member for Huntingdon pointed out to me one of the great fallacies in connection with price in competition or monopolistic power. It is that if we have perfect competition or a monopoly, logic and economic theory dictates that the price will be exactly the same. It is therefore difficult to make a coherent case
that price should be the determining factor for competition ills.
The CBI suggests equality of treatment and that the Government should hear all complaints equally. The concept of a super complainant procedure is cause for great concern, because people will assume that complaints have substance if they are put forward by a consumer group on that elevated scale. It seems that complaints will automatically get over the first hurdle if they are made by a super complainant. If legislation is to work properly, it is essential that it should treat all people in the same way. A complaint from a super complainant should be made as if it had come from an individual or another company.