HL Deb 31 January 2002 vol 631 cc435-6

8.57 p.m.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville) rose to move, That the draft order laid before the House on 19th December 2001 be approved [15th Report from the Joint Committee].

The noble Lord said: My Lords, noble Lords will be happy to hear that this is a well thought-out and sensible piece of tinkering. It is a small measure which makes a modification in the regulatory regime for the postal services market.

Noble Lords will be aware that the Postal Services Act 2000, which came into force in March 2001, introduced a new regulatory framework for the postal market. It created the new postal regulator—the Postal Services Commission, known as Postcomm— with the primary duty to ensure the provision of the universal postal service in the UK.

Section 6 of the Postal Services Act 2000 prevents any person conveying a letter from one place to another unless that person holds a licence authorising that conveyance. Such licences are granted by Postcomm. Section 7 of the Act sets out exceptions to that, and Section 8 gives the Secretary of State the power to modify Section 7 but only where Postcomm has recommended that that should happen.

Section 7(2)(d) of the Postal Services Act provides that a licence is not required for the conveyance of an overseas letter out of the United Kingdom, but Section 7 does not allow a person to make a collection of letters for that purpose.

Postcomm has made a recommendation that this restriction should be removed. Before making such a recommendation, the Postal Services Act requires Postcomm to consult with the Consumer Council for Postal Services, licence holders and such other persons as Postcomm considers appropriate. Postcomm undertook its consultation as part of the consultation process in relation to its published proposal to grant a licence under the Postal Services Act 2000 to G3 Worldwide Mail (UK) Limited. The consultation found that there was a unanimous view in the postal services industry that that sector of the market should be deregulated. It revealed clear support for Postcomm's proposal to modify the legislation, so that a licence will not be required for the collection of such letters. Postcomm says that introducing that modification would be deregulatory and would have no cost to postal operators.

The modification to the legislation contained in the order achieves the desired effect by amending Sections 7(2) and (3) of the Act. A licence will no longer be required for the collection of letters for their conveyance out of the United Kingdom. I commend the order to the House.

Moved, That the draft order laid before the House on 19th December 2001 be approved [15th Report from the Joint Committee].—(Lord Sainsbury of Turville.)

9 p.m.

Baroness Miller of Hendon

My Lords, as the Minister explained, the order will cure another anomaly that has been found in the Postal Services Act 2000. I thank the Minister for that clear explanation of the order.

I have often complained to your Lordships about the tendency for the Government to produce enabling Acts, delegating legislative powers to Ministers, but, in this instance, the power is serving a useful purpose. However, I also point out to your Lordships that the method used in this case is an order requiring positive ratification by Parliament, rather than the negative procedure that is often sought in primary legislation. I welcome that because it means that the order will receive the scrutiny of both Houses. It has already been before a Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation in the other place, at which it was debated and received approval at a sitting that was attended by 14 Members and took about 30 minutes.

As I said, we do not oppose the order. In fact, we support it.

On Question, Motion agreed to.