Postal Services Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 5:30 pm on 11 July 2000.

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Photo of Lord Sainsbury of Turville Lord Sainsbury of Turville Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Science and Innovation), Department of Trade and Industry, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Trade and Industry) (Science and Innovation) 5:30, 11 July 2000

My Lords, I shall respond to Amendments Nos. 6 and 7 and speak to Amendments Nos. 8 and 22 to 28. I do not want to spend too much time on the issue, but it is important that we get it right.

When I first saw Amendments Nos. 6 and 7, I thought that they were better because they were short, elegant and simple. However, having looked at the issue in detail, there are good reasons for preferring our wording. The draftsman fulfils a useful function in such circumstances.

I shall try to explain why I hope to convince the noble Lord, Lord Skelmersdale, to withdraw his amendment and to accept the government amendments. On Report, in response to an amendment he had tabled, I agreed to consider whether the Government should table an amendment to place a duty on the new consumer council to establish, at the very least, a committee in England to help it have regard to the needs of users in England. Amendment No. 8 does that, providing that the council must establish at least one committee in England. That duty can be met by establishing either a committee for the whole of England or one for an area within England. The amendment will not prevent the council from doing both. The Government anticipate that if the council decides not to establish a committee for the whole of England it will seek to establish a number of area committees covering the whole of England.

Amendments Nos. 22 to 28 are, for the most part, consequential amendments to Schedule 2. The intention is to ensure that the rules governing the establishment of any committee for England are consistent with those applying to the committees for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and that the rules relating to any committee for any area of England will be consistent with those for any committees for areas within Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The government amendments fulfil what the noble Lord, Lord Skelmersdale, seeks. However, his amendments would have some unwanted consequences. First, they appear to permit more than one committee for England as a whole while removing the express power for the council to set up committees for areas within England. Secondly, they would require each chairman of the committees for England to be a member of the council by virtue of Schedule 2(1)(b). Neither of us would want either of those situations to arise. In view of that, I hope that the noble Lord will feel that, with the help of the draftsman, we have been able to fulfil his intentions even better than his amendments would and that he will therefore withdraw Amendment No. 6.