EU: Structural and Cohesion Funds
Debate between Baroness Wilcox and Lord Swinfen(12 years, 2 months ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Baroness Wilcox
The noble Lord has his own agenda which he is free to pursue. Fortunately, Her Majesty’s Government do not at the moment agree with him.
Lord Swinfen
My Lords, how much is lost in administrative charges as our funds pass through Europe on their way back to this country?
Baroness Wilcox
I do not happen to have the figures to hand on how much it costs us. I will happily write to the noble Lord.
Postal Services Bill
Debate between Baroness Wilcox and Lord Swinfen
Lord Swinfen
Does the noble Lord, Lord Borrie, think it would be appropriate for the name “Royal Mail” to be owned by a foreign company that had bought the postal services—indeed, a foreign company from a republic?
Baroness Wilcox
My Lords, I say to the noble Lord, Lord Borrie, that we intend to put safeguards in place to ensure that the royal associations are used by Royal Mail respectfully and appropriately at all times. We have not yet finalised how these will be structured, but they could, for example, be set out in a legally binding agreement between the company and the Secretary of State. When drawing up such an agreement, we would seek to ensure that the use of the name “Royal Mail” was linked to the provision by the company of the universal postal service, and this would prevent it being used in other circumstances.
I wondered whether someone was going to ask whether there is not the potential for a foreign owner to misuse the royal associations. That was almost the thrust of the question. We appreciate that there might be concerns about the potential for misuse of these associations, and we propose to put safeguards in place to ensure that they are used respectfully at all times. However, this is a commercial transaction and we wish to stop at this point. I am sure that the noble Lord, Lord Borrie, who knows what brand names are all about from his time as director-general at the Office of Fair Trading, will know all the protections that are encompassed around that.
Small Businesses: Invoice Payments
Debate between Baroness Wilcox and Lord Swinfen
Baroness Wilcox
I do not really think I ought to answer questions that were directed at my noble friend.
Lord Swinfen
My Lords, is there not a statutory right to charge interest on late payment of invoices, and after what period does this come into effect?
Baroness Wilcox
Is there a statutory right? I shall have to come back to that in order to be sure.