§ Lord Ezraasked Her Majesty's Government:
In the light of recent events, whether they consider there should be an increase in the parliamentary scrutiny of the operations of the privatised utilities' regulators.
§ The Minister of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Fraser of Carmyllie)Since they were established, the regulators of the privatised utilities (gas, electricity, water and telecoms) have made many appearances before Select Committees, 11 in the last 18 months alone. The Government believe that the regulators should continue to use parliamentary and other channels to do all they can to explain the basis for their decisions. It is, of course, for Parliament itself to decide whether, in the light of the existing scrutiny of the activities of the regulators by various bodies, increased parliamentary scrutiny is required.