§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what evaluation she has made of the feasibility of(a) auctioning and (b) charging a fee for licences for new post operators. [43628]
§ Mr. AlexanderUnder the Postal Services Act 2000 the licensing of postal operators is a matter for the Postal Services Commission (known as Postcomm).
The legislation says that Postcomm has the power to require an application for a licence to be accompanied by such reasonable application fee as it may determine. Postcomm does not have the power under the Postal Services Act to charge a fee for licences or to auction them.