§ Baroness BURTON of COVENTRYMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
The Question was as follows:
To ask Her Majesty's Government from whom or from what source con-consumer consultative bodies of those public corporations with statutory responsibility to provide certain goods and services receive their terms of reference.
§ Lord JACQUESMy Lords, the terms of reference of most of the consumer consultative bodies mentioned by my noble friend in the Question are laid down by Statute. In the cases of surface transport, coal, electricity, gas and Post Office services, the relevant Statutes are listed in the third column of the Answer which I gave my noble friend on 4th March. There have been amendments to terms of reference in the cases of transport and coal made by the Transport Acts 1962 and 1968 and the European Communities Act 1972 respectively. The statutory responsibilities of the White Fish Industry Advisory Council and the Herring Industry Advisory Council are laid down in Sections 3 and 30 respectively of the Sea Fish Industry Act 1970.
The functions of the Independent Broad-casting Authority's advisory committees are set out in Sections 10 and 11 of the Independent Broadcasting Authority Act 1973; those of the advisory bodies relating to the BBC are contained in paragraphs 8 to 11 of the BBC's Charter. The terms of reference of the Airport Consultative Committees are set by the British Airports Authority, which has a statutory obligation to protect the consumer and provide consultation. The 1014 Airline Users' Committee, which is not exclusively a consumer body of a public corporation in the terms of this Question, derives its terms of reference from the Civil Aviation Authority, which has a statutory responsibility for looking after the interests of air transport users. The terms of reference of the Iron and Steel Consumers' Council, which is a non-statutory body, are set by its own members.
§ Baroness BURTON of COVENTRYMy Lords, that is a most detailed reply, for which I thank my noble friend. It may seem rather unobliging to ask him a supplementary after all that, but I should be grateful if he could tell me what would be the procedure if a consumer committee wished to have its terms of reference amended. Should it apply to the source mentioned by my noble friend in his reply; in other words, to the source from which it has been derived?
§ Lord JACQUESMy Lords, I think that that would be the appropriate procedure, bearing in mind that, where the authority is given by Statute, the representation should be made to the Secretary of State.
§ Baroness BURTON of COVENTRYMy Lords, while I thank my noble friend for that reply, I wonder whether he could help me further. If a consumer committee does not have statutory responsibility and wishes to have this, to whom or to what source should it apply for that statutory responsibility to be granted?
§ Lord JACQUESMy Lords, there again, representation should be made to the Secretary of State. However, I remind my noble friend that the Government have said that they will refer the whole question of the consumer interest in the nationalised industries to the new National Consumer Council, which we hope will report without undue delay.
§ Baroness BURTON of COVENTRYMy Lords, I am much obliged to my noble friend.
§ Lord ELTONMy Lords, I may not have been listening with close enough attention to the impressive list which the noble Lord, Lord Jacques, has just given us, but I did not catch any reference to the consumers served by the National Bus Company in the Provinces. Could the 1015 noble Lord let me know whether I was right in thinking that there was an omission, and has he a view on that?
§ Lord JACQUESMy Lords, I think that in the case of the National Bus Company there is no consumer council. However, that again is a question which will be considered by the National Consumer Council.