Clause 90 - Notification of contravention of condition
Communications Bill
10:45 am
Mr Stephen Timms (Minister of State (e-Commerce & Competitiveness), Department of Trade and Industry; East Ham, Labour)
Let me make a general point. Some of the points that the hon. Gentleman referred to were raised in the scrutiny Committee and, as he said, in the Government's response. There is an important
difference between the approach taken in the Competition Act and the sectoral approach taken in the Bill. The fact that the Bill applies to a sector rather than the whole economy requires a different approach. The Competition Act lays down general requirements to be applied to specific situations case by case; the Bill lays down in advance specific rights and obligations. In the latter's case, the risk of inadvertent breaches by persons acting reasonably and in good faith is likely to be small. The consequences of such a breach under sectoral rules are also much less severe. For those reasons, we have taken the view, which was put to the scrutiny Committee, that it would not be appropriate to align further the regimes of the Competition Act and the new legislation. It would not be appropriate to act under the Competition Act if the directives mandated imposition and enforcement of obligations through the processes set out in them.
The hon. Gentleman asks why we did not add a reference to the Enterprise Act, which has been referred to frequently this morning. Ofcom has concurrent powers under that Act. The Act deals with wider issues concerning market-wide investigations, whereas the Competition Act 1998 has strong provisions on cartels that are more relevant in this case. Ofcom has access to those powers in the Enterprise Act.
The hon. Gentleman asked me specifically about whether there was an opportunity to use the Competition Act in the context of clauses 87 and 89. I would welcome the opportunity to reflect on that during the rapidly approaching break. I suspect that the outcome will probably not offer him much comfort, but I will be happy to undertake such reflection during the coming fortnight.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause 90 ordered to stand part of the Bill.