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Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness Sherlock (Labour). It was answered on Tuesday, 20 March 2012.

Groceries Code Adjudicator

Question
My Lords, will the Minister explain why these powers for financial sanctions will not be available from day one? Given that the point of setting up the adjudicator was to deal with the findings from the Competition Commission that supermarkets were transferring over excessive risk and unexpected cost to their suppliers, why would not the strongest possible signal be sent out right from the start?
Answer

My Lords, I understand the noble Baroness's position. On balance, we think that it would be better to start with the regime that we have proposed. As I said earlier, and as she acknowledges, we may well have to move on to what she suggests, but we would like to consider it further. One advantage of doing that is that we would have the benefit of the adjudicator's input and experience of deciding on the framework for fines.

Secondary information

Type
Oral question
Reference
736 c740 
Session
2010-12
Oral question type
Supplementary
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
Subjects
Complaints Codes of practice Supermarkets Trade associations Groceries Code Adjudicator
Link
View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk