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Postal Services Bill [HL]

My Lords, it would be an understatement to say that this has been an interesting debate. It is very clear that there are many important issues to be discussed in Committee. I join other noble Lords who have paid tribute today to Lord Dearing. I knew him for a much shorter time than most of your Lordships here this evening, but he made a kind speech immediately following my maiden speech nearly four years ago and was enormously encouraging to me, as I know that he has been to many noble Lords. As my noble friend Lord Hunt of Wirral said in his opening speech, although we support the Bill in general, a great deal in it is unclear. Some of the Government's press releases have, I am afraid to say, added to rather than reduced that confusion. We feel that there needs to be absolute certainty about many things. The Secretary of State has tried in a few of those areas, such as the continuation of the universal service obligation, to ensure that. However, essentially, the successful future of Royal Mail as the universal service provider depends, as the very helpful Hooper report states, on its revitalisation. The detail of what a deal with a private sector partner and the relationship with it will eventually look like needs, as my noble friend Lord Fowler and the noble Lords, Lord Neill of Blayden, Lord Lea of Crondall and Lord Whitty, among others, explained so helpfully, to be properly explored. The Government’s deliberate opaqueness is doing little to reassure stakeholders who are deeply concerned that the partnership will be effective. In Part 1, we agree with the noble Lord, Lord Neill, that the Government need to be much clearer about their intentions. Why have they not put their stated 30 per cent target for investment in the Bill? My noble friend Lord Fowler expressed concern about that. What criteria will be used to assess potential partners? What due diligence will be carried out on them? As several noble Lords have said, recent press coverage suggests that there may be controversy over the selection of a preferred partner. Any opaqueness about that process will only make matters worse. Any deal should be fully transparent—a word that the noble Lord, Lord Haskel, used in the context of the operations of the business going forward, but which equally applies here. A murky deal will only raise questions about whether Royal Mail is being thrown to the sharks in a desperate attempt by the Government to improve their short-term balance sheet. The noble Lord, Lord Stoddart, asked not only how much the Government expected to generate from the sale but what was to be done with the proceeds. Several noble Lords have asked whether employees will have the opportunity to have the benefit of share ownership. How confident can we be in the Government's ability to negotiate a good deal with a partner? The noble Lord, Lord Sawyer, referred to the current economic circumstances, which will of course have a bearing on the Government's ability to negotiate that deal. Parliament needs to be allowed a role to scrutinise any deal and to assess its continuing future success. Transparency is also much needed in Part 2, not just for pensioners, who are quite understandably, as the noble Lord, Lord Clarke, said most eloquently, deeply worried about their accrued rights, but also for the taxpayer, who will have to pay for it all, and for Parliament. Once again, the Government have chosen to make reassuring statements in press releases but not to place those same reassurances in the Bill. There is also a great deal of concern at the possibility that such assets as the pension fund still has will be thrown into the black hole of the Treasury, leaving the liability for future generations to pay. There needs to be much tighter provision for an accurate understanding of just what is being absorbed by the Government and what is being left behind. Similarly, in Part 3, although I understand the hope that Ofcom will be able to establish a regulatory regime that improves on the licensing system currently in place, there is very little in the Bill that would ensure that that is what would happen. My noble friend Lord Fowler was concerned about that. With such extensive powers being given to Ofcom, we feel that the Bill could be improved by providing for more stringent parliamentary scrutiny of Ofcom’s future decisions. There certainly needs to be much more detail about when the nuclear option of a levy can be invoked. Private companies already operating in this sector are of course concerned about their sudden inclusion in the regulatory regime. My noble friend Lord Hunt referred to that. What consultation was undertaken on these clauses? Noble Lords can be forgiven for thinking that the Government are riding roughshod not only over one or two of their own Back Benchers to introduce the Bill but over a number of stakeholders as well.