Channel Tunnel Rail Link (Supplementary Provisions) Bill

The right hon. Member for East Yorkshire (Mr. Knight) is right to say that there has been some debate already in Committee and in the House about whether clause 4 gives the ORR the right to decide, without restriction, what fees are appropriate for exercising its relevant functions. The current wording of the Bill says that the fee could be"““such amount as the Office of Rail Regulation considers to represent the costs reasonably incurred by it””." I assure the House that it is not the Government's understanding or intention that the Bill should allow the ORR to charge unreasonable fees, nor that the ORR would consider itself able to do so. The Government expect that any fee the ORR might charge under clause 4 would be reasonable, on an objective basis. The recollection of the right hon. Member for East Yorkshire about our earlier discussions is correct. I was grateful to him for raising the matter then, but I believe that my objection to his proposal, which I rejected, was both genuine and robust. He raised the matter again in the full Public Bill Committee debate, and he is right to say that I subsequently undertook to consider in a positive light any amendment that he might decide to table. I did that, and I even thought about the matter over the Christmas recess—after all, what else would one do at such a time but consider amendments to the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (Supplementary Provisions) Bill? I have concluded that the right hon. Member for East Yorkshire has made a valid point and, although I do not believe that the Bill as written would create the problems that he has predicted, I am persuaded that it would be improved by amendment No. 9. I can therefore tell the House that the Government are willing to accept that amendment. I congratulate the right hon. Member for East Yorkshire on drumming up so much support on both sides of the House for that amendment. [Interruption.] These are the jokes, folks. However, I must make two qualifications—that he should not get used to me being so accommodating, and that I am not inclined to be so generous in respect of amendment No. 2 . Clause 4, as amended, allows the ORR to charge a reasonable fee and then to arrange for that fee to be paid. The ORR has to issue a notice informing the rail link undertaker that will be the new owner of HS1 of the amount of the fee and the date by which it must be paid. Unpaid fees will be pursued through the ordinary process of civil debt recovery. However, subsections (6) and (7 ) of clause 4 allow the ORR to revise the notices that it issues. These two provisions have been included in the interests of being fair and reasonable. For example, if the ORR finds that it has charged HS1 too much, it can correct the original notice. That would prevent the ORR having to secure payment of the original amount and then arrange a refund later. Amendment No. 2 is aimed at a slightly different scenario. In effect, it would prevent the ORR from charging interest in the event of non-payment of a notice. That is standard commercial practice and, as I said in Committee, we are all used to having to pay extra for bills that are paid late. The wording of the clause as it stands simply allows the ORR the same rights as any other organisation when dealing with a debtor. The Opposition are understandably proud of their links with small businesses. They know that the late payment of bills is a major and serious problem for many small and medium-sized enterprises. Without that right to charge extra on unpaid bills, many small businesses would be left in some difficulty. I hope that Opposition Members will extend the same rights to the ORR, because the same principle applies. Amendment No. 9 would also mean that any costs, including interest, that the ORR charges HS1 would have to be reasonably incurred—whether something is reasonable being the objective test that the right hon. Gentleman requires. That provides sufficient protection for the HS1 infrastructure from unfair fees, so amendment No. 2 is neither necessary nor appropriate, and I hope that he will not press it.