Examination of Witnesses

Part of Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 10:40 am on 19 June 2012.

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Katja Hall: Yes. On this whole issue around the cartel offence and removing dishonesty, I think we understand the intention behind the proposal. We accept that at the moment it is a high hurdle and therefore difficult to prove dishonesty. Our concern is about getting the change, but in a way that is practical for businesses. Our concern is that if you just remove dishonesty and leave it as it is proposed, you will catch a lot of legitimate business activity, such as joint partnerships. Given that the sanctions are so severe, that is a worry for us and for our members. We would be interested in looking for solutions so that you can get a system that works and can deal appropriately with cartel offences without catching out legitimate business activity. One thought we had was whether there was something in the phrase “intent to deceive” that could be used in the Bill to try to distinguish between genuine business activity and criminal activity.