Postal Services Bill — Extension of existing powers relating to the Post Office — 27 Jul 2000

Lords amendments considered.

Lords amendment: No. 1, in page 2, line 32, leave out from beginning to ("are") in line 33 and insert

("a service of conveying relevant postal packets from one place to another by post and the incidental services of receiving, collecting, sorting and delivering such packets")

I beg to move, That this House agrees with the Lords in the said amendment.

Mr. Deputy Speaker:

With this it will be convenient to discuss Lords amendments Nos. 2, 30, 31, 44, 45, 49, 91, 92, 94, 101 and 126 to 132, No. 133 and amendment (a) thereto, and Nos. 134 to 140.

Sub-paragraph (1) does not free the universal service provider concerned from obtaining any other consent, licence or permission which may be required.

inspecting, maintaining, adjusting, repairing, altering or renewing such apparatus which has been so placed, changing its position or removing it.

Lords amendment agreed to.

Lords amendment No. 2 agreed to.

Lords amendment: No. 3, in page 9, line 26, after ("lie") insert

("or, in Scotland, be competent").

I beg to move, That this House agrees with the Lords in the said amendment.

Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Michael Lord):

With this it will be convenient to discuss Lords amendments Nos. 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15 to 19, 21, 23 to 26, 32, 41 to 43, 47, 48, 55, 56, 87 to 90, 93, 95 to 98, 100 and 141 to 144.

Lords amendment agreed to.

Lords amendments Nos. 4 and 5 agreed to.

Lords amendment: No. 6, in page 21, line 6, at end insert--

("(1A) No such penalty shall exceed 10 per cent. of the turnover of the licence holder (determined in accordance with provisions specified in an order made by the Secretary of State).").

No penalty fixed by the Director under this section may exceed 10 per cent. of the turnover of the undertaking (determined in accordance with such provisions as may be specified in an order made by the Secretary of State).

companies engaging in anti-competitive practices will face a maximum penalty of 10 per cent. of their UK turnover for each year of the infringement, up to a maximum of three years.

That could amount to tens of millions of pounds in some cases.

The proposed maximum penalty for breaches of the Act is excessive. It could lead to extremely large fines, and affect the viability of businesses, potentially leading to insolvencies and consequent job losses . . . The CBI believes the imposition of a maximum fine on a three-year basis to be contrary to the principle of section 60 of the Act; the equivalent time period at EU level is only one year.

The proposed level of maximum fine may also be contrary to the general Community law principle of proportionality.

Such a level of penalty goes beyond normal bounds, whether in terms of deterrent, retribution or proportionality, and arguably runs counter to the Government's stated goal of creating a healthy, pro-business environment.

Where an undertaking consists of two or more undertakings that each prepare accounts then the applicable turnover shall be calculated by adding together the respective applicable turnover of each, save that no account shall be taken of any turnover resulting from the sale of products or the provision of services between them.

shall exercise its functions in the manner which it considers is best calculated to promote efficiency and economy on the part of postal operators.

Accordingly, this amendment proposes that the commission collect information about the effectiveness of the Post Office, as compared with similar operations, and then report on the information that it has collected. It is difficult to see how the commission will be able to discharge the function referred to in, and provided for by, clause 5(3) without the benefit of such information. The proposal provides the information necessary to enable the commission to carry out its functions and the reassurance that that information will definitely be sought.

We have no difficulty in accepting this amendment--

We argued for it quite strongly either in Committee or on Report. We thank the Minister for bringing it back in this form.--[ Official Report, House of Lords , 11 July 2000; Vol. 615, c. 171.]

Lords amendment agreed to.

Lords amendments Nos. 7 to 19 agreed to.

Lords amendment: No. 20, in page 32, line 13, leave out (" 95(2)") and insert ("( Inviolability of mails )(2)")

I beg to move, That this House agrees with the Lords in the said amendment.

Mr. Deputy Speaker:

With this it will be convenient to discuss Lords amendments Nos. 36 to 40, 50, 53, 57 to 61, 72, 73 and 79.

Lords amendment agreed to.

Lords amendment No. 21 agreed to.

Lords amendment: No. 22, in page 34, line 34, leave out paragraph (c) and insert--

("(c) shall establish at least one committee, and may establish other committees, in relation to England (whether a committee for England or a committee for an area within England).")

I beg to move, That this House agrees with the Lords in the said amendment.

Mr. Deputy Speaker:

With this it will be convenient to discuss Lords amendments Nos. 27 to 29, No. 68 and amendment (a) thereto, and Nos. 109 to 120, 149 and 166.

Lords amendment agreed to.

Lords amendments Nos. 23 to 32 agreed to.

Lords amendment: No. 33, in page 44, line 30, at end insert--

("( ) amounts outstanding in respect of the principal of debt securities issued in pursuance of section 63 of this Act, and")

I beg to move, That this House agrees with the Lords in the said amendment.

Mr. Deputy Speaker:

With this it will be convenient to discuss Lords amendments Nos. 34 and 35, No. 66 and amendment (a) thereto, and Nos. 67, 121 to 125, 146, 153 and 154.

For the purposes of this section equivalents in sterling shall be calculated as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

Lords amendment agreed to [Special Entry].

Lords amendments Nos. 34 to 53 agreed to [some with Special Entry].

Lords amendment: No. 54, in page 62, line 20, leave out ("other country") and insert

("country or territory outside the United Kingdom")

I beg to move, That this House agrees with the Lords in the said amendment.

Mr. Deputy Speaker:

With this it will be convenient to discuss Lords amendments Nos. 69 to 71, 75 to 78, 80 to 82, 85, 102 to 104, 106 to 108, 145, 147, 148, 150 to 152, 155 to 165 and 167 to 171.

Lords amendment agreed to.

Lords amendments Nos. 55 to 65 agreed to.

Lords amendment: No. 66, in page 65, line 15, at end insert--

("(7) After section 74(4) of that Act there shall be inserted--

"(4A) For the purposes of this section equivalents in sterling shall be calculated as the Secretary of State considers appropriate." ")

Amendment proposed to the Lords amendment: (a), in line 4, leave out from "calculated" to end and insert--

'in accordance with market rates'.-- [Mr. Bercow.]

Question put, That the amendment to the Lords amendment be made:--

The House divided: Ayes 107, Noes 226.

Historical Hansard | Online Hansard |