Results 21–40 of 200 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Lord Carter of Barnes

Legislative Reform (Minor Variations to Premises Licences and Club Premises Certificates) Order 2009: Motion to Approve (15 Jun 2009)

Lord Carter of Barnes: My Lords, although this debate has not packed the Chamber with the same number of noble Lords as the previous debate, I, for one, recognise its importance. Indeed, tomorrow I shall be making an Oral Statement to the House on the Government's White Paper following the conclusion of the work on Digital Britain where, among other things, we shall discuss the future of digital radio. I have long...

Legislative Reform (Minor Variations to Premises Licences and Club Premises Certificates) Order 2009: Motion to Approve (15 Jun 2009)

Lord Carter of Barnes: My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for the gracious and considered manner in which he withdrew his amendment. I am always shocked to the core by his disappointment and I hope it will not be repeated tomorrow. This debate clearly needs to continue and the Government acknowledge that there is a legitimate debate still to be had around Section 177. It is unreasonable to characterise the Government...

Legislative Reform (Minor Variations to Premises Licences and Club Premises Certificates) Order 2009: Motion to Approve (15 Jun 2009)

Lord Carter of Barnes: My Lords, the measure before you is part of the Government's programme to remove unnecessary burdens on business. The minor variations process will provide an easier, cheaper and quicker way for premises to make small changes to their licences. This is particularly relevant at a time when pubs and clubs are struggling to survive. It will save the licensed trade valuable time and money and...

Tourism — Debate (14 May 2009)

Lord Carter of Barnes: My Lords, since I became a Minister I have had the pleasure of taking part in two House of Lords debates on tourism, and the significance of the sector has been made very clear to me. The contributions made today and back in January have all been eloquent and absorbing. As I think we all know, the world continues to change at a sometimes rather alarming and challenging pace. I would like to...

Postal Services Bill [HL]: Committee (5th Day) (Continued) (27 Apr 2009)

Lord Carter of Barnes: The eerily entitled Amendment 101—I believe that is where one is presented with one's worst fears—is a probing amendment which rightly concerns the transition arrangements. I genuinely thank the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, for raising these questions and giving us an opportunity to give a brief explanation of Schedule 9. I share his view that however welcome the regulatory change may be—as I...

Postal Services Bill [HL]: Committee (5th Day) (Continued) (27 Apr 2009)

Lord Carter of Barnes: I have read the amendment and listened to the noble Lord's questions. I would describe this as a "seeking-clarity amendment". On his question about the Government's response to the Select Committee's report—a "seeking-certainty question"—I am afraid that I cannot give him certainty about the date of the Government's response. However, I reiterate that it is our ambition to get the...

Postal Services Bill [HL]: Committee (5th Day) (Continued) (27 Apr 2009)

Lord Carter of Barnes: I beg to move Amendment 96ZB. In doing so, I will also speak to the other amendments in the group standing in the name of my noble friend the Secretary of State. This group of amendments relates to appeals against price control decisions. The first amendment removes a power for Ofcom to impose certain procedural requirements in relation to appeals from its decisions. Instead of this, we seek...

Postal Services Bill [HL]: Committee (5th Day) (Continued) (27 Apr 2009)

Lord Carter of Barnes: The noble Lords, Lord Cotter and Lord De Mauley, have tabled amendments that would introduce a new clause entitled "Appeals to the Competition Appeals Tribunal" after Clause 48, which deals with appeals on decisions taken by Ofcom relating to price controls. The amendment would provide for an appeal to the Competition Appeal Tribunal, the CAT, of any decision by Ofcom under Part 3, and would...

Postal Services Bill [HL]: Committee (5th Day) (Continued) (27 Apr 2009)

Lord Carter of Barnes: This amendment would restrict Ofcom's power to impose general access conditions so that it can be applied only to postal operators with significant market power. The Government agree that stringent criteria must be met before a general access condition may be imposed. Those criteria are already set out in the Bill. First, under Clause 44(3), Ofcom may impose a condition only where it is...

Postal Services Bill [HL]: Committee (5th Day) (Continued) (27 Apr 2009)

Lord Carter of Barnes: This is another example of getting the balance right in the distribution of responsibilities and powers in this regime. Clause 45, in conjunction with Clause 46, sets out the consumer protection conditions that Ofcom may impose. The noble Lord rightly identifies the one change, which is I believe the only change from the existing regime. Specifically, a consumer protection condition may...

Postal Services Bill [HL]: Committee (5th Day) (Continued) (27 Apr 2009)

Lord Carter of Barnes: On the basis of my knowledge, I will address it now. My understanding is that, as the noble Lord rightly points out, the existing accredited redress scheme is a relatively new innovation in the postal services market. We will write to clarify this, but I am almost certain that, in the change process, Ofcom will be consulting on the transfer. Clause 45 agreed. Clause 46 agreed. Schedule 5...

Postal Services Bill [HL] — Committee (5th Day) (Continued) (27 Apr 2009)

Lord Carter of Barnes: I thank the noble Lord, Lord Razzall, for raising this point. As he may not be aware, I have parents who live in, for these purposes, the wrong part of Perthshire, so the reality of this point is not lost on me. However, Clause 42 is one of a series of clauses which allows Ofcom to impose requirements on all postal operators. This new clause proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Razzall, also...

Postal Services Bill [HL] — Committee (5th Day) (Continued) (27 Apr 2009)

Lord Carter of Barnes: As the noble Lord says, the amendment would reduce or limit Ofcom's ability to impose access conditions on certain types of postal operators by removing the reference to postal operators' infrastructure from the general access conditions. In the Government's view, the amendment is not necessary and could be contrary to our obligations under Article 11a of the postal services directive, which...

Postal Services Bill [HL] — Committee (5th Day) (Continued) (27 Apr 2009)

Lord Carter of Barnes: I do not feel that I can comment on the quality of the drafting of the amendment. As I understand it, it seeks to restrict Ofcom's powers to protect the universal service as circumstances develop. The noble Lord is absolutely correct that Hooper makes it clear in his report that in current circumstances there is no requirement for a compensation fund. Hooper also makes it clear, based on what...

Postal Services Bill [HL] — Committee (5th Day) (Continued) (27 Apr 2009)

Lord Carter of Barnes: Amendment 89Q would require Ofcom to estimate from a benchmarking exercise the inefficiencies of the universal service provider and exclude it from the costs of complying with universal postal service obligations. The noble Lord understandably seeks to make sure that competitors are not unreasonably required to subsidise existing inefficiencies through the existence of a compensation fund. I...

Postal Services Bill [HL] — Committee (5th Day) (Continued) (27 Apr 2009)

Lord Carter of Barnes: I, too, was rather hoping that the noble Lord, Lord Razzall, would reveal all, but that is perhaps something to look forward to later. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Clarke, for again so clearly making the case for why there is a need for a change in the regulatory regime, why there is a need for the underpinning and support of the universal service obligation, and why there is a need to ensure...

Postal Services Bill [HL] — Committee (5th Day) (Continued) (27 Apr 2009)

Lord Carter of Barnes: I fear that I am going to disappoint the noble Lord in providing the level of clarity that he is looking for but I shall try. These amendments relate mainly to contributions from other postal operators to any scheme set up to share the burden of providing any universal service as defined by the regulator. They relate to both Clause 37 on general universal service conditions and Clause 40,...

Postal Services Bill [HL] — Committee (5th Day) (Continued) (27 Apr 2009)

Lord Carter of Barnes: Securing the provision of the universal service is, as we have discussed on a number of amendments, at the heart of the Bill. Clause 37 provides for general universal service conditions and recognises that to secure the provision of the universal service it may not be sufficient to impose conditions solely on the universal service provider—if not now, then at some probably surprising date...

Postal Services Bill [HL] — Committee (5th Day) (Continued) (27 Apr 2009)

Lord Carter of Barnes: I was just trying to surprise the noble Lord. My point was that it is an unpredictable date. The purpose of allowing the regulator the opportunity to exercise discretion is to be able to adapt at speed to a market that may change at a faster rate than we, with all our collective wisdom, may be able to predict in 2009. To underscore the central point—which perhaps does not need to be said...

Postal Services Bill [HL] — Committee (5th Day) (Continued) (27 Apr 2009)

Lord Carter of Barnes: My Lords, I agree with the noble Lord that that amendment probes a number of areas, some of which I hope I can give him some reassurance on; we may need to clarify others in writing. The specific amendment relates to Clause 38, which, as the noble Lord rightly points out, allows Ofcom to impose charges on postal operators providing services within the scope of the universal service and to...


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