Francis Maude: ...an update setting out progress. It is the first comprehensive update since the Public Bodies Act received Royal Assent in 2011. The achievement now stands at over 95% of planned abolitions and mergers completed. The public bodies reform programmes’ successes include: Reducing the number of public bodies by over 285—by abolishing more than 185 and merging over 165 bodies into fewer than...
Francis Maude: ...undertook to remove the schedule, which we have done, although the procedures in the Bill will still exist, and if a triennial review concludes that there should be reforms—perhaps abolition or merger—to governance or funding, whatever they may be, those procedures could still be used, but beforehand, a short piece of primary legislation would be needed to insert that body into one of...
Francis Maude: The primary aim of the planned Public Bodies (Reform) Bill is to increase the accountability of public bodies, but we also expect that abolitions and mergers arising from the Bill will create savings in future years and departments will be incorporating initial savings into their spending review plans. No estimate has yet been made of the level of savings expected.
Francis Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many charities were removed from the Charity Commission's register for (a) ceasing to exist or operate due to merger, incorporation or transfer of funds, (b) ceasing to exist or operate for other reasons, (c) voluntary removal below the minimum threshold and (d) duplicate registrations and other corrections in each financial year since 1997-98.
Francis Maude: New clauses 17, 18 and 19 flow from the proposed merger of the London traded options market and the London international financial futures exchange, which, it is hoped, will take place later this year to form the London derivatives exchange. New clauses 17 and 18 give power to the Treasury to make regulations about stamp duty in connection with the proposed merger. At present, the traded...
Francis Maude: ...it is our intention simply to reflect existing reliefs in the provisions because if we did not make provisions, such as we are giving ourselves the power to make under the new clauses, under the merger that we expect to take place, the reliefs might disappear and would not be available. Our intention is simply to replicate the existing provisions as far as possible and to enable them to be...
Francis Maude: ...1985 of those exceptional circumstances from the then University Grants Committee, decisive action to remedy that was instigated. It became clear that the only route to effective survival was the merger, which I understand had been long mooted with the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology. That merger took place in 1989. It was supported by some extra funds, but...
Francis Maude: The principal role of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission has not changed, but its role has been extended over recent years by certain provisions in the Telecommunications Act 1984, the Airports Act 1986, the Gas Act 1986 and the Water Act 1989.
Francis Maude: No, Sir. I do not agree with my hon. Friend. The Monopolies and Mergers Commission carries out functions given to it by Parliament. It investigates matters that are referred to it either by the Director General of Fair Trading or by my right hon. and noble Friend the Secretary of State. It makes findings and recommendations. It is within the commission's powers to make the recommendations...
Francis Maude: The Monopolies and Mergers Commission has no power to initiate investigations. It can investigate and report only on matters referred to it by Ministers, the Director General of Fair Trading, Director General of Telecommunications, Director General of Gas Supply, or the Civil Aviation Authority. In the last five years some 78 reports by the commission have been published. Of those my right...
Francis Maude: No doubt my hon. Friend will make his observations, in whatever form he feels is appropriate, to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, which is carrying out that investigation. The reference was made on the very firm advice of the Director General of Fair Trading.
Francis Maude: ...to my hon. Friend that the regulation does not involve a transfer of sovereignty—that was done when the treaty of Rome was signed. The Commission has competence in competition matters and over mergers and that has been asserted and upheld by the European Court of Justice. My hon. Friend is right to say that the regulation must be agreed unanimously. Therefore, we have considerable...
Francis Maude: ...) for drawing attention to the further scrutiny which his Committee has been able to give to this document in the course of today. We now debate a proposal for a regulation for the control of mergers with a European dimension. Certain mergers may already be controlled at the European level under articles 85 and 86 of the treaty of Rome. The question raised by these documents is,...
Francis Maude: ...proposal would not come before the Council of Ministers unless it were approved by the Commission as a whole—not necessarily unanimously. There is also the question of the criteria by which mergers should be assessed to determine whether, in the words of the draft regulation, they are compatible with the Common Market. We and Germany firmly believe that the criterion must be the effect...
Francis Maude: In a way, the hon. and learned Member for Montgomery (Mr. Carlile) is right in what he says from a sedentary position. We seek to insulate the decision on whether a merger should be prevented from taking place, which is essentially a decision about whether shareholders should be allowed to sell their shares to a willing buyer, from the political process. The Secretary of State for Trade and...
Francis Maude: ...if a regulation is to come into force, which is by no means settled yet, it should set out clearly the criteria that the Commission must apply. It is not a question of whether there should be a merger-control regime within the Community because the Commission has asserted, and the court has upheld, its power to control mergers under articles 85 and 86 of the treaty, which have remained in...
Francis Maude: It is simply not the case that the regulation provides the certainty that the hon. Gentleman seeks. A company will not know for certain whether a merger will be investigated. Such certainty would not be possible under any merger-control regime. Only when a proposed merger is subject to scrutiny do its full implications begin to emerge and are decisions made. It is not possible—this is a...
Francis Maude: .... I do not know the answer, but I shall endeavour to supply it before the debate concludes. Also to be resolved is the relationship between any European regulation and the activities of national merger administrations. We are concerned that as far as possible businesses should not be exposed to what has become known as double jeopardy—the need to seek national and Community approval for...
Francis Maude: ...the proposals do not address is the barriers—which are more extensive in some member states than in others—to mounting successful contested takeovers. We have made it clear that the proposed merger control regulation should be considered within the wider framework of barriers to takeovers. Such barriers are simply not compatible with the completion of the single market. We are not...
Francis Maude: ...as research and development, safety standards and environmental considerations. It is not the case that there is no scope for those matters to be considered under United Kingdom legislation. If a merger is referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, it has a duty to take all the relevant matters into consideration in deciding whether the merger is in the public interest. The hon....