Clause 3 - General duties of Ofcom
Communications Bill
4:30 pm
Mr Andrew Lansley (South Cambridgeshire, Conservative)
That risk is run; my hon. Friend is right. One could put off decisions on the basis that the long-term interests of consumers might be better served by not facing up to difficulties straight away. However, that is a difficult matter. We could spend a great deal of time examining particular examples in which that might be the case. The best example is that of energy markets and the new electricity trading arrangements, which are effective in delivering short-term benefits to consumers. The question of long-term investment arises, and it is being addressed in the review of NETA. We do not need to go far down that path.
Past experience of regulation has disclosed that the encouraging of investment and innovation is what is most likely to be in the long-term interests of consumers. That would not be reflected if no regard was paid to long-term interests. If that encouragement is there, it seems to me that the need for ''long-term'' is met.