HC Deb 05 March 1998 vol 307 cc1182-3
5. Mr. Rooney

If she will make a statement about the objectives of her Department's review of the utility regulators. [31130]

Mrs. Beckett

The objective of the interdepartmental review is to set a long-term, stable framework for utility regulation, which is seen to be fair by all interest groups, particularly consumers. I hope to be able to publish the conclusions of the review on utility regulation in a Green Paper in the near future.

Mr. Rooney

I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer. She will know that, although fuel poverty is a big issue, it was totally ignored by the previous Administration. In April, gas deregulation comes to Yorkshire, where there have already been far too many episodes of bandit canvassers trying to make people sign up to deals on a totally false basis—they have even signed up people who are dead and made children sign contracts. Will she ensure that the regulator takes action against such people?

Mrs. Beckett

My hon. Friend makes an extremely good point. When the system of regulation was set up, the Conservative party claimed that it would favour the consumer, but that was not what the legislation said and it has not often been what has happened in practice. It is important that, as competition is introduced into the domestic gas market, the consumer is protected. My hon. Friend the Minister for Competition and Consumer Affairs and the director general of the regulatory office are in close contact on this. Action has already been taken to put conditions into the companies' licences to ensure that good practice is followed and that, if it is not, compensation is possible.

Sir Sydney Chapman

Will the right hon. Lady give an assurance that, in the review of the utility regulators, she will do her utmost to strike the right balance between encouraging competition and ensuring that regulation is not unduly suffocating? I think that hon. Members on both sides of the House feel that the Competition Bill—which is about to have its Third Reading in another place—will give the regulators too much arbitrary power.

Mrs. Beckett

I entirely share the hon. Gentleman's view that it is important to strike the right balance between competition and regulation. Our approach has always been to ensure competition where possible and regulation where necessary. It has also always been our view that that regulation should be transparent, consistent and predictable. The hon. Gentleman is concerned lest the Competition Bill in some way unfairly changes that balance. I do not believe that it will, but the issue will be discussed both when the Green Paper is produced and when that Bill comes to the House of Commons.

Mr. Alan Johnson

My right hon. Friend will be aware that Hull's municipally owned telephone service survived nationalisation in 1911. It also survived privatisation in 1984 because, although it may not be popular with the Director General of Oftel, it is cherished by the local population that it serves. In the light of the Oftel report on Kingston Communications, which was published on Monday, will she remind Oftel that its job is to protect the customer, not to promote BT?

Mrs. Beckett

I understand my hon. Friend's concerns and I am well aware of how extremely popular the company is in Hull. Currently, other suppliers can enter that market, with the exception of BT—that is the issue on which the director general has sought consultation. I feel confident that, if the existing system is as popular with the local community as my hon. Friend says, it will survive any review. Although I have taken on board his points, I should remind him that it may ultimately fall to me to take a decision in this matter, so I hope that he will forgive me if I refrain from further comment.

Mr. Boswell

Has the right hon. Lady dropped her ill-considered proposal to impose an extra charge on the bulk of consumers in order to pursue her social objectives for a limited number of low-income consumers?

Mrs. Beckett

I note the pejorative tone. The hon. Gentleman will see what we propose when the Green Paper is published in the near future. If he is saying, on behalf of the Conservative party, that what happens to low-income consumers of crucial utilities is a matter of indifference, that bears out his party's practice in government. I do not think it wise to advertise that.