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Postal Services Bill [HL]

My Lords, I have provided a number of commitments to this House to be as transparent about the process to find a partner for Royal Mail Group as commercial confidentiality allows. Amendment 1 stems from this. We have had a number of debates during the earlier stages of the Bill about the detail of our negotiations. Expressions of interest from potential partners have already been received and we are actively examining them. I shall provide a further update in due course on the bid process. Our criteria, set out clearly in February, make it clear that any strategic partner must be motivated to modernise Royal Mail over the long term, and must offer value for money for the taxpayer. We will not do a deal at any price. There is some way to go and it may well take longer to reach agreement with a partner than it takes to debate and agree this Bill. Your Lordships have stressed the need to be assured that the deal that we ultimately agree meets the criteria that we have set. The noble Lord, Lord Hunt, has tabled a number of amendments in this regard. Recognising your Lordships’ legitimate interest in this area and my desire to be transparent, I agreed on Report to consider his amendments and return to the House. I am therefore moving Amendment 1. The amendment requires the Secretary of State to lay before Parliament a report on any binding agreement that would reduce the Crown’s ownership, either directly or indirectly, of a Royal Mail company. It sets out the detail that must be covered by the report: the Government’s objectives for a transaction and whether they have been achieved; the criteria that have been applied in assessing the transaction and whether they have been met; and, finally, the principal terms of the agreement. I trust that your Lordships will recognise this as a significant commitment on the Government’s part to ensuring the transparency of any process to reduce the proportion of shares in Royal Mail held by the Government, not just the partnership proposal that we are currently pursuing. Therefore, I beg to move.