Sorry—I meant cartels. I am glad noble Lords were listening. It is one of those days already; if only I were not dyslexic. I repeat, cartels are a particularly damaging form of anti-competitive behaviour. In this Bill, the removal of the requirement to prove that individual cartelists were acting dishonestly will make prosecutions easy to mount, therefore deterring more cartels. These provisions, which will take out of the cartel offence those arrangements which have been notified to customers or publicised in the prescribed way, will provide a safe harbour for those businessmen engaged in legitimate commercial behaviour. Further comfort will be provided by prosecutorial guidance and by the statutory defences in the Bill.
I intend to bring forward a new provision in Committee and will first provide your Lordships with the necessary briefing on my data. To further benefit consumers, we will be introducing a power to make it compulsory for suppliers of services and goods to provide to their customers, upon request, their own transaction and consumption data in a portable electronic format. This will help consumers to make better decisions on the products and services that offer them the best value. The power will be targeted on certain sectors—namely, the energy, mobile phone, current account and credit card sectors—but may be extended to other sectors if appropriate.
Turning to copyright, the UK’s copyright regime needs to be brought up-to-date. The measures in this Bill will help to bring the law into the modern age and will be of benefit to creators and users of copyright alike.
The primary authority scheme is a highly effective mechanism which allows firms to get assured advice from one local authority on regulatory issues. This is not about scrapping regulation, but about ensuring that the necessary rules are enforced in an efficient manner. We want to extend eligibility, so that more businesses—especially smaller enterprises—can benefit.
On bankruptcy, this Bill reforms the process by which an individual may apply for their own bankruptcy; it will remove the existing requirement that such individuals petition and attend court, replacing it with a suitably robust and more efficient process under a suitably qualified adjudicator. In these cases, there is no dispute for the court to resolve. This measure will therefore free up judges’ time and court resources.
On sunset and review, the Government have already strengthened the scrutiny of new regulations before they are brought into force. But it is also vital to review new regulations after their introduction to establish whether they are meeting their objectives; whether they are still required and whether burdens can be reduced. Past weaknesses in this area have been highlighted in the excellent work by the merits committee—and I am grateful to the noble Lords, Lord Filkin and Lord Goodlad—most recently in their 2009 report, What Happened Next. The changes that are being made by this Bill will ensure that sunset and review provisions can be included in future secondary legislation. That will support the establishment of a robust and enduring system for tackling obsolete, burdensome or ineffective regulation, and help ensure that regulatory burdens on business are minimised.
Overly burdensome and obsolete rules stifle business. That is why we need to get rid of them wherever that is sensible. For example, it is currently the case that, where health and safety regulations impose a strict duty on employers, they can be liable to pay compensation, despite having done all that was reasonable to protect their employees. To address this potential unfairness, the Bill will remove the right of individuals to make civil claims for breach of most statutory health and safety duties, unless it can be proved the employer has been negligent.
The Bill will also exclude from the scope of the Estate Agents Act 1979 some intermediaries, such as private sales portals, that merely enable private sellers to advertise their properties and provide a means for sellers and buyers to communicate with one another.
This is a limited deregulation that should bring benefits to the consumer and to the industry without reducing consumer protection.
The heritage measures in this Bill deliver on commitments made in the Government’s response to the Penfold review of non-planning consents. In particular, they will reduce burdens on owners, developers and local planning authorities but, importantly, without diminishing protection for key heritage sites and buildings. For example, the measures on Osborne House will enable English Heritage to put an unused wing of the building to productive use and to generate income to cover maintenance costs.
The package of measures on equalities reflects the Government’s clear commitment to equalities and the maintenance of core protection under equalities law, while addressing legal requirements which are not necessary or helpful. We want the Equality and Human Rights Commission to focus on its core functions as an independent equality body and an A-rated national human rights institution. We are therefore repealing vague and unnecessary duties and powers from the Equality Act 2006—the legislation that established the commission.
This Bill also implements two repeals arising from the equalities Red Tape Challenge, as well as delivering on this Government’s commitment to promote equal pay by ensuring that there is proportionate further action for the very few employers who flout equal pay laws.
The measures in this Bill are designed to help in our efforts to restore the United Kingdom economy to health and to pave the way for sustained recovery. I much look forward to the contributions from noble Lords and working with all Peers in the constructive way in which this House operates. I commend the Bill to the House. I beg to move.
11.52 am