§ Mrs. HumbleTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has laid the draft order defining turnover for the purposes of the 10 per cent. limit on financial penalties as required by section 30 of the Postal Services Act 2000; and if he will make a statement. [151888]
§ Mr. Alan JohnsonMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has today laid a draft order defining turnover for the purposes of section 30 of the Postal Services Act 2000. A consultation document on this draft order was published on the DTI website www.dti.gov.uk on 19 December. The consultation came to an end on 31 January. The Department is grateful to those who responded. The policy behind the draft order has not altered but a number of minor changes have been made. The reference to "enforcement action" has been removed as it was deemed to be unnecessary. Some minor changes to annualisation in the first year have been made to minimise unfairness. Finally, the multi-year calculation has been simplified so that whole years are used rather than fractions of years. Subject to the approval of both Houses, the draft order will enable the Postal Services Commission to impose appropriate financial penalties in support of its enforcement of the new postal licensing regime.