Competition Act 1998 (Land Agreements Exclusion Revocation) Order 2010

My Lords, I thank noble Lords for their contributions to this debate. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Young, who I hoped would give his support, as this is after all his work. The knowledge that the noble Lord, Lord Borrie—the previous director-general at the Office of Fair Trading—will be here always sends a shiver through me, because I always know that he is going to ask me a question that I cannot answer. In this case, his points are valid. Yes, we are allowing more time and, yes, the OFT will be helping and guiding. I assume that it will be able to do that within the range of funds available to it, and I am sure that the noble Lord will be the first to complain if objections arise because it has not been able to respond. I hope that that is not the case. The noble Lord makes the case that many of these parties will be small ones that will need help and advice, and will have to turn to outside advice since they will not have in-house lawyers. I hope that I can reassure him on this point. If there is anything more that I should have said to him, I shall receive advice from the Box and write to him to confirm. I hope that we are happy to continue with this order, which will remove the doubt that land agreements in line with other agreements must be properly assessed to ensure that they do not restrict competition. The Government’s purpose is to provide for consistent application of the law and to promote effective competition in markets, helping to deliver value and quality for consumers while boosting productivity and efficiency for business. By delaying the effect of the revocation until next April, we are giving parties sufficient time to review their existing and future agreements in line with the OFT’s latest guidance. They will also have the breathing space to make any necessary adjustments to comply with the law. I commend the order to the House. Motion agreed.