HC Deb 04 April 1995 vol 257 cc1007-8W
Mr. Betts

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what advice he has received from the Director General of Fair Trading about the bus industry since deregulation, and what particular advice he has received with regard to Stagecoach plc and Mainline. [18319]

Mr. Jonathan Evans

The Director General of Fair Trailing has a duty under the Fair Trading Act 1973 to advise my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade whether or not to refer mergers to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission and, where mergers have been referred, on action to take after the MMC has reported. He also gives advice on action to take following MMC monopoly and Competition Act reports. He has advised accordingly on all MMC reports involving the bus industry since deregulation in October 1986. The DGFT's advice on the MMC report on the Stagecoach Holdings plc/Mainline Partnership Ltd merger was that Stagecoach should be required to divest its 20 per cent. shareholding in Mainline.

Mr. Betts

To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) how many Monopolies and Mergers Commission investigations there have been involving Stagecoach plc since bus deregulation; and on how many occasions he has accepted, rejected or altered the recommendation from the Monopolies and Mergers Commission; [18317]

(2) how many Monopolies and Mergers Commission investigations there have been into the bus industry since bus deregulation; and on how many occasions he accepted, rejected or altered the recommendation from the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. [18318]

Mr. Jonathan Evans

Since bus deregulation in October 1986, the Monopolies and Mergers Commission has undertaken 15 enquiries relating to the bus industry, including one case where the MMC has yet to report and two where their reports have not yet been published. Eight of these inquiries involved Stagecoach. In all cases so far published Ministers accepted the MMC's findings but in three merger cases, all involving Stagecoach, Ministers asked the Director General of Fair Trading to negotiate undertakings which went further than the MMC recommended; these cases were Stagecoach/Portsmouth Citybus, Stagecoach/Formia and Stagecoach/Mainline Partnership Ltd.