HC Deb 10 April 1989 vol 150 cc641-3
Mr. Lang

I beg to move amendment No. 53, in page 34, line 46, at end insert— '(3) The Director General of Fair Trading shall consult the Director before publishing under section 124 of the 1973 Act any information or advice which may be published by the Director under this section.'.

Madam Deputy Speaker

With this it will be convenient to take Government amendments Nos. 54 to 63.

Mr. Lang

This is a group of technical amendments. Amendments Nos. 53 and 55 relate to clauses 44 and 46 respectively and are aimed at preventing the wasteful duplication of effort. Amendment No. 54 relates to clause 45 and adds to the information held on the public register kept by the director general. Amendments Nos. 56 to 63 relate to clause 53 and provide additional disclosure gateways through which information may be disclosed to specified statutory or public bodies.

Amendment No. 63 arises from an undertaking that I gave in Committee to the hon. Member for Cardiff, West (Mr. Morgan) to consider whether it would be appropriate for environmental health departments to be included in the list of organisations to which information might be disclosed. He believed that councils should have access to information about excessive discharges of dirt and dust. I understand that the legislative plans of the Department of the Environment include giving local authorities greater power over air emissions so that operators will need local authority consent before plants can operate.

We do not think that it is necessary to include environmental health departments in the list now, but I have carefully considered the hon. Gentleman's point. Amendment No. 63 is designed to empower the Secretary of State to make orders creating gateways to such departments or other organisations as appropriate in the future. There is the possibility that not only could we meet the hon. Gentleman's point should the need arise, despite the further powers to be given to local authorities on air emissions, but we could go wider and include other organisations.

Mr. Doran

In introducing amendments Nos. 53 and 55 the Minister mentioned that one of the aims was to prevent the wasteful duplication of effort. I believe that by removing the obligation on the Monopolies and Mergers Commission to include references by the director general under the Bill, additional effort may be required to have an overview of the commission's work. Has the Minister considered that point?

Mr. Lang

The hon. Gentleman's suggestion goes further than the Bill's provisions. The director general will take a close interest in such matters anyway and has adequate powers to keep an eye on them. To suggest that there should be some further change in powers to oversee the activities of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission is to go further than the Bill's provisions.

Mr. Doran

There has been a misunderstanding. My understanding of the amendment is that the Monopolies and Mergers Commission and the Director General of Fair Trading are not required in their reports to mention referrals by the Director General of Electricity Supply under the Bill. I am concerned with the overview of the work of those two other bodies which these clauses affect. The legislation may create extra work.

Mr. Lang

That is not the intention, nor is it our expectation.

Mr. Morgan

The Minister said that the Secretary of State may wish to make orders following new legislation about clean air monitoring and the powers of local authorities, so surely the hon. Gentleman recognises that environmental health departments of borough and local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland already have clean air responsibilities. It is peculiar to leave this aspect out of the legislation. Is the hon. Gentleman considering tabling a further amendment in another place?

Mr. Lang

We are not contemplating that at the moment. It would not be sensible to reopen the debate that we had in Committee on clause 52 when we considered the matter in detail and made clear the limited context in which the clause operated. It was clear that the various gateways provided in the Bill were adequate. I undertook to consider the point further both in the context of the specific point of dust and dirt to which the hon. Gentleman referred and in the general context. We have now come forward with a power to enable the Secretary of State to add names to the schedule by regulation, and I think that that is a desirable way forward. Hon. Members are at one in that purpose and we believe that our amendment meets the practical needs of the situation.

Amendment agreed to.

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