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Competition and Markets Authority

House of Lords written statement – made at on 10 October 2013.

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Photo of Viscount Younger of Leckie Viscount Younger of Leckie The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills

My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills (Vince Cable) has made the following statement:

The Competition and Markets Authority will be a new non-ministerial Department created by the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013. The Authority will become operational on 1 April 2014 and exists as a legal entity from 1 October 2013. It replaces the existing Competition Commission and Office of Fair Trading which will close on 31st March 2013.

There is a need to meet the cash requirement for the Competition and Markets Authority from 1 October 2013 to pay for staff costs. Although Parliament has already approved the specific enabling legislation, the resources to fund the creation of the Competition and Markets Authority are currently within the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Pending the commencement of full operation in April 2014, when the budget for the Competition and Markets Authority will be delivered from the existing budgets of the Competition Commission and the Office of Fair Trading, immediate expenditure estimated at £1,600,000 (one million, six hundred thousand pounds) for staff costs will be met by repayable cash advances from the Contingencies Fund.

If further costs arise that would be irregular for BIS to pay on behalf of the CMA, between now and March 2014 when the Supply and Appropriation (Anticipation and Adjustments) Bill achieves Royal Assent I will return to the House.

Parliamentary approval for resources of £1,600,000 (one million six hundred thousand pounds) for this new expenditure will be sought in a Supplementary Estimate for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £1,600,000 (one million six hundred thousand pounds) will be met by repayable cash advances from the Contingencies Fund.

House of Lords

The house of Lords is the upper chamber of the Houses of Parliament. It is filled with Lords (I.E. Lords, Dukes, Baron/esses, Earls, Marquis/esses, Viscounts, Count/esses, etc.) The Lords consider proposals from the EU or from the commons. They can then reject a bill, accept it, or make amendments. If a bill is rejected, the commons can send it back to the lords for re-discussion. The Lords cannot stop a bill for longer than one parliamentary session. If a bill is accepted, it is forwarded to the Queen, who will then sign it and make it law. If a bill is amended, the amended bill is sent back to the House of Commons for discussion.

The Lords are not elected; they are appointed. Lords can take a "whip", that is to say, they can choose a party to represent. Currently, most Peers are Conservative.

Secretary of State

Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.