§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the cost of the review of UK competition policy conducted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers was; and what her Department's response is to the policy recommendations made. [751]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson[holding answer 25 June 2001]PriceWaterhouseCoopers were selected to undertake the Peer Review of the UK Competition Policy Regime after a competitive tender was held in accordance with the DTI's procurement rules. The cost of the contract was £70,000 (excl. VAT).
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Table 1 Merger referred Date referred National Express Group/Central Trains May 1997 National Express Group/ScotRail May 1997 Priory Hospitals/Charter June 1997 Capital Radio/Virgin Radio July 1997 Mirror Group/Midland Independent Newspapers July 1997 Pacificorp/Energy Group August 1997 Fresenius/Caremark December 1997 Johnston Press/Home Counties Newspapers Holdings February 1998 Ladbroke/Corals March 1998 Tomkins/Kerry Group April 1998 New Decaux/More Group May 1998 Arriva/Lutonian Buses July 1998 Cendant/RAC Motoring Services September 1998 IMS Health/PMSI October 1998 BSkyB/Manchester United October 1998 Rockwool/Owens Corning December 1998 British Airways/CityFlyer Express January 1999 Johnston Press/Portsmouth and Sunderland Newspapers February 1999 News Communications and Media/Portsmouth and Sunderland Newspapers February 1999 Newsquest/Portsmouth and Sunderland Newspapers February 1999 Air Products/DeVilbiss Medequip February 1999 Hepworth/Naylor Industries March 1999 Trinity/Mirror Group March 1999 Regional Independent Media Holdings/Mirror Group March 1999 NTL/Newcastle United April 1999 Whitbread/Allied Domecq July 1999 Alanod Aluminium/Metalloxyd July 1999 Universal Foods/Pointing Holdings August 1999 CHC Helicopter Corporation/Helicopter Services Group September 1999 NTL/CWC November 1999 Vivendi/BSkyB November 1999 Newsquest/News Communications and Media December 1999 Johnston Press/News Communications and Media December 1999 Trinity Mirror/News Communications and Media December 1999 Carlton/United News and Media February 2000 Granada/Carlton Communications February 2000 Granada/United News and Media February 2000 Independent News and Media/Belfast Telegraph March 2000 Air Canada/Canadian Airlines May 2000 Sylvan International/Locker Group June 2000 The Peer Review Report is published on the DTI website and will inform decisions made in the context of the Enterprise Bill. I have placed a copy in the Library of the House.
§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the cases since May 1997(a) where her predecessors referred mergers to the Competition Commission (i) on the advice of and (ii) against the advice of the Director General of the Office of Fair Trading and (b) where Ministers have not followed merger recommendations by the Competition Commission. [750]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson[holding answer 25 June 2001]Table 1 lists all the merger cases which have been referred to the Competition Commission (previously known as the Monopolies and Mergers Commission) since May 1997. The Director General of Fair Trading (DGFT) does not advise on newspaper mergers. With the exception of NEG/ScotRail, NEG/Central Trains, Pacificorp/Energy Group, and NTL/CWC, all other references were made in accordance with the advice of the DGFT.
Table 2 lists the cases since May 1997 where Ministers have not followed merger recommendations by the Competition Commission/Monopolies and Mergers Commission.
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Table 1 Merger referred Date referred BUPA/Community Hospitals Group June 2000 Nutreco/Hydro Seafood July 2000 Gannett UK/Regional Independent Media Holdings July 2000 Johnston Press/Regional Independent Media Holdings July 2000 Guardian Media Group/Regional Independent Media Holdings July 2000 Interbrew/Bass September 2000 Grundfos Holdings/Myson Pumps October 2000 CAIK Holding/Icopal AS November 2000 Adtranz/Railcare November 2000 City Technology/Marconi Applied Technologies December 2000 BASF/Takeda Chemicals December 2000 SCR Sibelco/assets of Anglo Pacific January 2001 Lloyds TSB/Abbey National February 2001 Reed Elsevier/Harcourt February 2001 General Healthcare Group/Community Hospitals Group March 2001 Octagon Motorsports/assets of British Racing Drivers Club April 2001 Blockbuster/Apollo Video May 2001
Table 2 Merger report Date report published Bass/Carlsberg Tetley June 1997 British Airways/CityFlyer Express July 1999 Trinity/Mirror Group July 1999 Sylvan International/Locker Group November 2000
§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to introduce criminal sanctions for breaches of competition law. [749]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson[holding answer 25 June 2001]We have announced our intention to consult on proposals that there should be a new criminal offence for individuals who engage in cartels. These proposals will be published in July.