Clause 2 - Initial function of OFCOM
Office of Communications Bill [Lords]
2:30 pm
Mrs Anne McIntosh (Vale of York, Conservative)
Concluding the discussion on amendment No. 14, the Minister was about to explain the difference between quick and brief. I am being brief and he is being quick. We expect a commitment from the Government that the transitional period—I want a precise answer—will not last more than one year. To give the Minister his due, that would be quick. Anything more than that would be deeply regrettable. New clause 2 states that the Act should cease to have effect after one year, which links to amendment No. 14. I want the whole Bill, not least clause 2(1), to qualify for sunset clauses similar to those previously specified.
I am grateful to the Minister for drawing my attention to the Towers Perrin report and the regulators' steering group. It is appropriate to consider the clauses that should be subject to sunset provisions. The Towers Perrin report sets out several transitional principles. On page 40, paragraph 10.6, it specifies:
In a merger of this kind, when the outcome is to create a new organisation, it is important to define the principles by which the transition will be managed. This will provide consistency to the thinking and will give positive early signals to employees about the future management style of OFCOM.
I would go further than that: it would give positive early signals not only to employees of Ofcom, but to the industry as a whole, which Ofcom will regulate.
The report states that
The principles have been developed in consultation with the Regulators' Steering Group and drawing from our own experience of best practice.
They are described as statements of intent. Assuming that the new clause is accepted and that the Bill will cease to have effect one year after its commencement, we shall judge its success according to how the statements of intent measure up against best practice.
The existing organisations will be merged during the transitional period to create, we are told, ''a world-class regulator''—the Government have held that out as the pearl in the heart of the oyster—subject to the advent of the communications Bill. If we create one regulator to replace five, the one should be a world-class regulator that will carry out a truly integrated regulatory role beyond that conducted by the existing organisations. It is appropriate that we specify precisely what the Bill is to achieve during the transitional period; if the Government fail to achieve those intentions, the legislation should fall. That is the purpose of new clause 2.
There is also a need, as the Towers Perrin report states categorically, to deliver ''business as usual'' in parallel with delivering a new Ofcom. That is why it is extremely important Tthat the legislation should be in force for only one year. For reasons that we stated at some length this morning, we should not be creating a sixth regulator. The aim is to achieve one regulator—a merged regulator, not a mega-regulator or behemoth. Within one year of the Bill receiving Royal Assent and reaching the statute book, it should have been replaced by the communications Bill. The explanatory notes say that the substantive Bill should receive Royal Assent and reach the statute book by mid–2003.
That is a tall order, but I believe that that statement of intent goes to the heart of new clause 2. The legislation before us must have the objective of delivering business as usual and of delivering the new Ofcom by the end of one year after its commencement. I hope that the Minister can put our minds at rest that that is the timetable and the objective towards which the Government are working. It would be totally unacceptable for the legislation to remain in situ and on the statute book for longer than one year if that meant that Ofcom existed in parallel with the original five regulators for longer than one year. It is necessary to recognise the need to deliver business as usual.
Ofcom must also be required to communicate frequently, consistently, openly and honestly, sharing information with the present regulators when possible. I am concerned that the Bill makes no reference to how the existing regulators will communicate with the new regulator. The report says that, as a principle for the transitional period, it is desirable that all employees of the existing regulators be treated with respect and dignity, and that recognition be given to the difficulties presented by the length of the transition period. That is a key point. We all sincerely hope that the transitional period will be short.