Moved by
Lord Jenkin of Roding
119: After Clause 38, insert the following new Clause—
“Part 4A
Impact of infrastructure spending on costs for consumers
Impact of infrastructure spending on costs for consumers
(1) The Treasury may by regulations make provision for the regulators to provide data, in a manner prescribed by the regulations, about the anticipated impact of infrastructure spending on the cost of products for consumers.
(2) Regulations made under subsection (1) may prescribe—
(a) the type of infrastructure spending about which data must be provided;
(b) the nature of the data to be provided;
(c) the methodology for collating and manipulating the data, including assumptions that should be made;
(d) the form in which the data should be presented;
(e) the persons that should receive a copy of the data.
(3) The regulations may make different provision for different regulators where necessary.
(4) The Treasury must scrutinise the data provided under subsection (1) and assess—
(a) the impact of infrastructure spending on the cost of products for consumers;
(b) the affordability of any anticipated increases in the cost of products for consumers, taking into account factors other than infrastructure spending that are also likely to significantly impact the cost of products; and
(c) differences in affordability between different groups of consumers, if any.
(5) The Treasury must publish the data provided under subsection (1) and the assessment made under subsection (4) in such manner as it reasonably deems appropriate.
(6) The Treasury must take into account the assessment in subsection (4) in making decisions about the extent, prioritisation or timing of infrastructure spending.
(7) In this Part—
“consumer” means any individual or household of individuals that purchases a product or products;
“product” means a good or service the provision of which is regulated by a regulator;
a “regulator” means any of—
(a) the Northern Ireland Authority for Utility Regulation;
(b) the Office of Communications;
(c) the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets;
(d) the Office of Rail Regulation;
(e) the Water Industry Commission for Scotland; and
(f) the Water Services Regulation Authority,
and “the regulators” means all of them.”