Enterprise Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 12:45 pm on 7 May 2002.
Nigel Waterson
Conservative, Eastbourne
I have another brief point, which pertains to subsection (2). It is right, practical and necessary that the OFT gives the commission any information in its possession which the commission may reasonably require, as set out in subsection (1)(a), and any other assistance. I am slightly baffled about subsection (2), which seems to assume that the
commission will not be the best judge of the information that it needs to receive from the OFT, and that the OFT may force on the commission information that it does not want. I am all in favour of belt and braces in drafting, but that seems to be a subsection too far. The commission is best placed to decide what information it needs. It beggars belief that the OFT would want to say, "You should have asked for the following information, so here it is." Can the Under-Secretary explain?
Miss Melanie Johnson
Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of Trade and Industry
The explanation is simple. The Competition Commission will not necessarily know what information the OFT has. The OFT has a duty to give to the Secretary of State or an appropriate Minister all the information it has that has been requested and which the OFT believes is appropriate. The provision may be needed when the Secretary of State is considering referral of a market to the Competition Commission, and the OFT may have information that has led it to conclude that a market reference is unnecessary. The OFT should then be able to share that information with the Secretary of State, but the Competition Commission will not necessarily know what the OFT has.
Clause 162 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
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