Regulatory Authorities (Level of Charges) Bill

Stephen McPartland Excerpts

Friday 13th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Chope]

My right hon. Friend may well be right. It may well be that there are certain circumstances in which local authorities are undertaking a responsibility given to them by the Crown and so this Bill would apply to them, but it is not intended to cut across the discretion of local authorities to set their own fees and charges for the services they provide. That would be contrary to the principles of localism, which are supported so widely across the House now.

Clause 1 states:

“No regulatory authority carrying out functions in England on behalf of a Minister of the Crown may increase, over any given period of time, the fees charged in respect of any of its services by more than the rate of inflation, measured by the Consumer Prices Index, over that given period of time.”

Recently, these charges have been increasing very much above the rate of inflation, and I shall give the House some examples.

Anyone who wishes to travel abroad must have a passport, so one can hardly describe this as an optional extra for most citizens. In 1997, a 10-year renewal for an adult passport cost £17.50 but in 2009 the cost had increased to £77.50, which is almost a fourfold increase in real terms in 12 years. Why? Is such an increase not rather unfair, given that everybody needs a passport and especially given that children now have to have their own passports and cannot travel on their parents’ passports? How can such an increase be justified? Clause 1 would make it impossible for the Passport and Records Agency to increase its fees above the rate of inflation over a given period of time without getting specific authority so to do.

[Stephen McPartland (Stevenage) (Con)]

I had the great pleasure of working for the passport office to fund my way through university. While I was there, just pre-1997, it was outsourced to Siemens Business Services, and this was one of the reasons why the costs became so large so quickly. A failed IT project from a previous Government was involved.

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[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

I commend the hon. Member for Christchurch (Mr Chope) not only for his customary skill in securing such an optimal slot for his private Member’s Bill, but for his interest in this very important area. Not enough Members are sufficiently excited by regulation, but when growth is flatlining and businesses continue to struggle with the effects of a challenging economy, it is important that we discuss the role of regulators and particularly their impact on businesses.

As somebody who formerly worked for the telecoms regulator, Ofcom, which the hon. Gentleman was good enough to praise, I am familiar with the effect that regulation has on businesses of all sizes. I understand his deep frustration with the Government’s broken promises on regulation. Regulation protects consumers and employees’ rights; it ensures that our industries play their part in moving towards a green, sustainable future; and it keeps citizens safe. It has no doubt saved many lives. It is therefore important that it is effective and enforceable, but challenges arise when ill-thought-through regulation has unforeseen consequences or is interpreted bureaucratically and inflexibly.

[Stephen McPartland]

Police forces have recently suggested that inflexible health and safety regulations have prevented them from doing their job and from going to help people in dangerous situations. Does the hon. Lady agree with them?

[Chi Onwurah]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. We can all agree that the work of the police needs to be supported by effective regulation and by ensuring that our police have the rights needed to pursue their necessary duties in the best way possible.

Regulation can certainly represent an unacceptable burden on businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises, which may not have the legal advice to interpret regulation accurately or the resources to implement it fully. Like many hon. Members, I am a passionate advocate of effective measures to free businesses from red tape, but I do not believe that the answer is to impose arbitrary restrictions on authorities that could hinder their enforcement capabilities. I am afraid that I am not entirely convinced by the Bill. It would introduce restrictions on a wide range of different regulators, and it would therefore need considerable examination in detail in Committee.

When in power, Labour sought to reduce regulation, by introducing the Better Regulation Commission and the ongoing better regulation programme, and made a number of legislative changes to reduce the costs of regulation. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman would not be promoting the Bill if the Government had managed to keep their headline-grabbing promises on reducing regulation. As the director general of the Institute of Directors is quoted as saying in yesterday’s Financial Times, the Government’s rhetoric on red tape and planning has yet to be matched by action.