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Lords Amendment: In page 25, line 21, at end insert:
and the Commission shall not be required in pursuance of any such reference to report whether any such agreement to which the parties concerned are party operates or may be expected to operate as such against the public interest.
§ Mr. Walker-SmithI beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment.
This is a clarifying Amendment. It makes it clear that the Monopolies Commission, in reporting on a reference after the commencement of the Act, may not make a public interest judgment on any agreement which comes within the scope of Part I of the Bill. This is in conformity with the principle of the avoidance of the possibility of conflict between the Commission and the Restrictive Practices Court. The substance of the matter is contained in subsection (1) of the Clause.
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Lords Amendment: In page 25, line 34, leave out "on" and insert:
at the expiration of the period of one month beginning with the date of".
§ Mr. Walker-SmithI beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment.
This is an Amendment to subsection (3) of Clause 27. The subsection gives power for the Board of Trade to make directions in particular cases about what would otherwise be the lapsing of the references to the Monopolies Commission. When the Bill was originally drafted, as the House may recall, it was to have come into operation one month after its passing, and so there was automatically a period of one month in which the Board could give the directions. Now that that month no longer exists and the important part of the Bill is to come into operation immediately on being passed, it is necessary to provide a short period in which 992 the Board can give any necessary directions.
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Lords Amendment: In page 25, line 37, at beginning insert:
The power of the Board of Trade to give directions under subsection (3) of this section in respect of a reference made before the commencement of this Act shall include power to require the Commission to proceed with the reference as if it had been made after the commencement of this Act; and".
§ Mr. Walker-SmithI beg to move. That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment.
This Amendment is also concerned with the same subsection of the Clause, and it is designed to clarify the extent of the powers of the Board of Trade to vary existing references before the Monopolies Commission. The necessity for this Amendment arises because the words—
Except so far as the Board of Trade may otherwise direct".might not have allowed the Board to alter an existing reference to the Monopolies Commission, or one requiring the Commission to report as if the reference had been made after the commencement of the Act. In fact, this power is expected to be required in only one case.