Competition Commission and Office of Fair Trading

Lord Borrie Excerpts

Monday 22nd November 2010 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Wilcox]

My Lords, I am very happy to reassure the noble Baroness, Lady Kingsmill. Her expertise in this area is recognised around the House. As she said, she worked on the Competition Commission as a deputy chair. Without doubt, the panel of peers, to which she refers, has done a marvellous job. There is no intention on our part to get rid of what is good; if we can, we intend to improve on what is already there. When the consultation paper comes out in the new year, I hope that she will speak strongly so that we shall have the advantage of her expertise.

[Lord Borrie]

My Lords, will the noble Baroness consider—in due course, at any rate—that in order to get the most skilled and experienced practitioners in business and the professions, as my noble friend Lady Kingsmill feels is desired, it is almost certain that we will have to engage part-time people, because most people with that sort of experience are not willing to give up their jobs to take another job in the Civil Service? In considering the Government's plans, will the Minister also explore whether it is possible to keep the staff of the investigating arm of the new body separate and distinct from the staff of the decision-making and more quasi-judicial part?

[Baroness Wilcox]

The noble Lord, Lord Borrie, with whom I have worked many times over the years, has the OFT as his expertise, so anything that he has to say on the subject is certainly worth listening to. When it comes to the consultation period in January, I am sure that all the points that he has just made will be taken into consideration. As I said before, we have absolutely no intention to ruin a good thing; the idea is to try to improve it. Therefore, the better the consultation, the better, and I look forward to his contribution.