Office of Communications Bill [Lords]
4:45 pm
Mrs Anne McIntosh (Vale of York, Conservative)
Unfortunately, the reverse is true. I am deeply alarmed by what the Minister has recounted, especially in response to the additional questioning by my hon. Friend the Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant).
There is concern about the lack of clarity in the Bill, and the Minister has contradicted himself slightly. Paragraph 9 states that grants may be extended as the Secretary of State thinks fit, to enable Ofcom
to incur or meet liabilities in respect of capital and revenue expenditure.
It continues:
Grants under this paragraph shall be paid out of money provided by Parliament.
Paragraph 10 states:
The Secretary of State may make advances to OFCOM out of money provided by Parliament.
Moreover, those sums are to be repaid to the Secretary of State at such times as he directs.
Orange has said that the merging of five regulatory bodies into one should create significant operational cost-saving synergies for the communications
industries. In its view, the Bill is insufficiently clear in that respect. How will staffing be administered? I do not remember hearing the Minister say how many members of staff are envisaged. The Bill suggests how many board members are envisaged. Will the Minister provide clarification?