Postal Services Act 2011 (Disclosure of Information) Order 2012
Baroness Wilcox
That the Grand Committee do report to the House that it has considered the Postal Services Act 2011 (Disclosure of Information) Order 2012.
Relevant document: 42nd Report from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Baroness Wilcox)
My Lords, the two orders in this group are made under the Postal Services Act 2011, which was enacted in June of last year. The overall purpose of the Act is to secure the future provision of the universal postal service. The vast majority of the provisions in the Act came into force on 1 October 2011, including those in Part 3, which covers postal regulation. Part 3 enabled a number of changes to be made to the regulatory framework for postal services, including the transfer of regulatory responsibilities from Postcomm to Ofcom. The two orders before the Committee support the statutory functions of Ofcom as the regulator for postal services. Both extend to Ofcom powers that were previously available to its predecessor, Postcomm, under earlier legislation. I will address each order in turn, starting with the Postal Services Act 2011 (Penalties) (Rules for Calculation of Turnover) Order.
In order to regulate effectively, Ofcom, like any regulator, needs powers to enforce its decisions. The Postal Services Act mirrors the Communications Act in relation to compliance and enforcement notifications, penalties, urgent cases, serious and repeated infringements, suspension or restriction of the entitlement to provide a service, breach of directions and civil enforcement. This is a system that is already in place for the wider communications sector, and with which Ofcom has considerable experience. It is required because Ofcom may at some point need to take action against a postal operator for breach of a regulatory requirement.
There is a range of steps that Ofcom may take if a person is in breach of a regulatory requirement, moving from notification through enforcement notification to imposing penalties. The maximum penalty must not be more than 10 per cent of turnover and must be appropriate and proportionate to the contravention that it is designed to address. The order sets out the rules by which Ofcom must calculate turnover for the purpose of imposing such penalties.
The schedule to the order establishes the general rules for the calculation of turnover for the purpose imposed by Ofcom. Rule 1 sets out that turnover shall be calculated in conformity with accounting practices and principles that are generally accepted in the UK. Rule 2 sets out that the turnover of a person’s postal services business shall be calculated after the deduction of sales rebates, value added tax and other taxes directly related to turnover. Rule 3 makes provision for the calculation of turnover where a person’s postal services business consists of two or more undertakings. The power to impose penalties was available to Postcomm under the previous legislative framework. The order will simply allow Ofcom to exercise the same power in the same way, where necessary, to enforce its regulatory decisions.
I turn to the Postal Services Act 2011 (Disclosure of Information) Order 2012. This is made under enabling powers in the Postal Services Act 2011. Section 55—“Information”—and Schedule 8 to the Act make provision for information to be provided to Ofcom for the purpose of carrying out its functions in relation to postal services. Section 56 sets out the framework under which information obtained under Part 3 of the Act can be disclosed to other bodies for the purposes of carrying out their respective statutory functions.
Section 56(7) of the Postal Services Act 2011 makes it a criminal offence to disclose any information obtained by means of Part 3 of the Act, which relates to an individual or a particular business, during that person’s lifetime or while the business continues to exist, unless it is permitted by that section. Section 56 permits disclosure for the purpose of facilitating the carrying out by a prescribed body or other person of any functions under a prescribed enactment, and in other prescribed circumstances or for prescribed purposes, where “prescribed” means by an order of the Secretary of State. This is the subject of the second order before us today.
This order will prescribe those bodies or persons to whom information may be disclosed, the enactments under which information may be disclosed, and other circumstances and purposes. It will permit Ofcom to share information obtained under the Postal Services Act 2011 with certain public authorities that may require that information to assist them in carrying out their statutory functions.
The order essentially re-enacts disclosure gateways that previously existed under the Postal Services Act 2000, combined with those in the Communications Act 2003, although where appropriate it does replace and add some references to account for administrative and legislative changes. I therefore commend these orders to the Committee.
Lord Young of Norwood Green
My Lords, I thank the Minister for her explanation. As she knows, we were not in support of the major principle behind the Postal Services Act, although I have to admit that we did applaud some aspects of it. We breathed a sigh of relief at the transferring of responsibilities from Postcomm to Ofcom. We can only hope that the regulation will be more effective than it was previously. I have no specific questions on this. As the Minister said, it is just a transfer of existing responsibilities from Postcomm to Ofcom.
Lord Razzall
My Lords, I share the support of the noble Lord, Lord Young. This is the first occasion on which a parliamentary body has met since we read in the newspapers and heard on the radio that the Post Office pension fund will be transferred to the Government. Perhaps I may rather cheekily ask the noble Baroness whether she is prepared to expand on that, and to say whether that means that the European Commission has approved the transfer. Or is that a cheeky question too far?
Baroness Wilcox
My Lords, I think that it is a cheeky question too far, but I am taking my time in saying that in case someone wants to wave at me, in which case I will be only too delighted to give him any information that I can. The Government submitted their notification to the European Commission in June 2011. We continue to work closely with the European Commission and expect to receive a decision by 31 March, which will allow the Government to implement their policy of relieving the pension deficit. I thank the noble Lord for that question.
Perhaps I may close on these orders and say that I am grateful for the debate. The orders are re-enactments of the relevant provisions that were available to Ofcom’s predecessor, Postcomm, under earlier legislation. In the case of the disclosure of information order, the order is re-enacting the gateways that had been available under previous postal legislation. I commend the orders to the Committee.