Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill

My Lords, this is a very quick, probing amendment. It gives the CMA powers to seek information in...

My Lords, we are trying to streamline the processes, as the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, would ackn...

I am grateful to the Minister for his comments. As we discussed in a previous amendment, one of t...

Moved by

Lord Whitty

25H: Schedule 11, page 213, line 24, leave out “£30,000” and ins...

My Lords, this amendment and the others in this group are pretty straightforward and deal with th...

My Lords, I part company a little from the noble Lord, Lord Whitty, here and I shall illustrate w...

Surely the noble Viscount would agree that these things sometimes have a deterrent value. People ...

I quite agree about deterrents: a nuclear bomb is a deterrent. You have to provide a deterrent. E...

I have to disagree with my noble friend Lord Eccles because I believe that you should have deterr...

Before the noble Lord sits down, I was interested in his comments about the £30,000, the £15,000,...

Can I just clarify that? I did not say plus. It is £30,000 or 10% of turnover, and the Competitio...

I am grateful to the Minister. I am wondering why the daily rate should not be a percentage as we...

I have made a mistake. It is not “or 10% of turnover”; it is a fixed rate of £30,000—not 10% of t...

I am grateful to the Minister for that clarification. I still think that £15,000 a day for a big ...

My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for clarifying that; I was getting a bit confused myself....

Moved by

Lord Whitty

25M: Clause 31, page 29, line 33, leave out “relevant” and inser...

My Lords, this is very straightforward. It is a matter of clarity. Clause 31 refers at several po...

My Lords, I can get to the nub of this very quickly. The relevant bodies in this case are only th...

In which case, my Lords, surely it would be sensible to say the Secretary of State or the CMA—the...

Moved by

Lord Whitty

25T: Schedule 12, page 216, line 16, leave out “6” and insert “4...

My Lords, these amendments are straightforward. Part of the rationale for the merger has been to ...

I cannot tell the noble Lord why not; I asked the very same question of my officials. It is a per...

Before the noble Lord sits down, I have a question in relation to these time periods. I have had ...

My Lords, in reply to my noble friend, Lord Berkeley, the point would be from when the clock star...

Moved by

Lord Whitty

25X: Clause 33, page 31, line 40, leave out from beginning to en...

My Lords, these amendments are a little more complicated. I am not sure that I understand this my...

My noble friend Lord Whitty has tabled a very valuable amendment here. It is most important that ...

That was a veritable tour de force from the noble Lord, Lord Borrie, as one would expect. Just to...

My Lords, it is six o’clock on 18 December, so there is not much daylight, but I am grateful to t...

Moved by

Viscount Eccles

26: Clause 34, page 32, line 7, leave out from beginning to ...

My Lords, I am probing to see whether there is some way in which some of these arrangements could...

My Lords, I am in danger of re-establishing my alliance with the noble Viscount. There are aspect...

Perhaps I could explain to the noble Lord, Lord Whitty, and to my noble friend Lord Eccles that a...

I thank my noble friend. Can he deal, if not now then later, with this point about an individual ...

Moved by

Lord Berkeley

26A: Clause 36, page 34, line 32, leave out subsection (4)

This is a probing amendment. Subsection 36(4) of the Bill provides for one or more of the CMA’s f...

My Lords, I think that my noble friend Lord Berkeley is right to seek verification on this. A lat...

The noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, gets to the point. I am grateful for his brevity. I am reliably in...

I am grateful to the Minister but I wonder whether, within his broad canvas, or whatever, he has ...

My Lords, I was going to leave that because my Amendment 26BF is an attempt to tidy up the provis...

Perhaps I may first reply to the noble Lord, Lord Whitty. We will review this in five years’ time...

Moved by

Lord Whitty

26AB: Clause 37, page 36, line 10, leave out “significant” and i...

My Lords, this is really a drafting amendment. Section 35 of the 1998 Act refers to “serious, irr...

As the noble Lord says, it is a matter of conjecture and we will obviously look at it. I am not s...

I am grateful to the Minister for that and I beg to withdraw the amendment.

Moved by

Lord Whitty

26AC: Clause 41, page 37, line 16, leave out subsections (4) and...

My Lords, Clause 41 makes some very significant changes to the law on cartels. At present, the co...

I take from this that the noble Lord, Lord Whitty, agrees with his own Front Bench in the other p...

My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for saying that he will look at the situation again. I wa...

Moved by

Lord Marland

26B: After Clause 45, insert the following new Clause—

“P...

My Lords, Clause 45 gives the Competition and Markets Authority stronger powers to co-ordinate Co...

Moved by

Lord Whitty

26BA: After Clause 45, line 21, at end insert—

“(g) the Fi...

My Lords, I am extraordinarily grateful to the Minister for accepting that Monitor should come ou...

My Lords, I share my noble friend Lord Whitty’s serious concern about Amendment 26B. It goes to t...

We have a Division in the Chamber. The Committee will stand adjourned until Members have returned...

My Lords, before the Division, we were debating Amendment 26BA.

My Lords, I had just about finished, but want to conclude by saying that I hope that the Minister...

I endorse what has been said by the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley. The proposed new clause states: