Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill

Insert the following new Clause—

“The Press

Interpretation: “the media”, “news publishers” etc

(1) In this Act “the media” means—

(a) media organisations, and

(b) servants and agents of media organisations in the performance of functions relating to the activities of those organisations.

(2) In this Act “media organisations” means organisations which—

(a) make broadcasts within the meaning of section 95(1) of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006;

(b) publish, for circulation anywhere in England or Wales, a newspaper, magazine or periodical (or online content associated with a newspaper, magazine or periodical), a substantial proportion of which consists of news of, or opinion and discussion about, current affairs;

(c) in the course of a business, publish content on a website, a substantial proportion of which consists of news of, or opinion and discussion about, current affairs in England or Wales.

(3) In this Act “news publishers” means media organisations referred to in subsection (2)(b) and (c).

(4) In this Act “regulated publisher” means a news publisher which subscribes to a recognised regulator.

(5) In this Act a reference to “conduct” includes a reference to omissions; and a reference to a person’s conduct can include a reference to a person’s conduct after the events giving rise to a claim.”

Line 25, at end insert—

“(6) Within eight months of the Royal Assent to this Act the Secretary of State shall lay before each House of Parliament an Order setting out the specific scope and terms of operation in relation to competition, mergers and plurality of ownership of the media and news publishers under the provisions of Part 4 of this Act and relevant provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002 and the Competition Act 1998 and that Order shall amongst other things specify—

(a) a requirement that the CMA shall carry out periodic assessments of the ownership and diversity of the news media;

(b) a specific threshold of ownership or potential ownership within a specific news media sector or cross ownership between media sectors beyond which competition or merger concerns can lead to an investigation;

(c) procedures under which the CMA is to conduct investigations into market situations or merger proposals within news media sectors;

(d) procedures as to how the Secretary of State shall deal with recommendations from the CMA relating to issues of plurality within the news media sectors;

(e) procedures whereby the Secretary of State can invoke public interest criteria in relation to issues of plurality of ownership within the news media.

An Order under this section and any subsequent Orders amending this section, or Orders under this section, shall be subject to a vote of each House of Parliament.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Recognition

(1) In this Act “recognised regulator” means a body which—

(a) in the opinion of the Recognition Commission is established as a voluntary regulatory body for the purposes of those sections, and

(b) is certified by the Recognition Commission for the purposes of this subsection.

(2) The Recognition Commission shall be established in accordance with the provisions of Schedule (The Recognition Commission).

(3) In deciding whether to certify a body the Recognition Commission must consider, in particular, whether the body—

(a) has sufficient guarantees of independence, including suitable independent, fair and transparent procedures for appointments and funding,

(b) has suitable functions, powers, personnel and resources to ensure that it can fulfil its principal objects effectively,

(c) has an appropriately prepared standards code,

(d) has effective processes for upholding standards,

(e) has an efficient procedure for handling complaints,

(f) has an effective and accessible arbitration service, and

(g) includes subscribers owned by a range of companies.

(4) The Recognition Commission may not certify a body unless satisfied that it complies with the minimum requirements specified in Schedule (Minimum requirements for a recognised regulator).

(5) The Recognition Commission must review each recognised regulator—

(a) at least once during the period of two years beginning with the date of certification, and

(b) at intervals of not more than three years after that.

(6) The Recognition Commission must also review a recognised regulator if in the Commission’s opinion there has been, or may have been, a significant change in the structure, processes, independence, fairness or effectiveness of the recognised regulator.

(7) But the Recognition Commission may not carry out a review under subsection (6) unless the Commission has given the approved regulator reasonable notice in writing of the proposal to do so; and the notice must specify the Commission’s reasons.

(8) The Recognition Commission must prepare and publish a report of each review under this section.

(9) A review under this section of a recognition under this section is a review only of the extent to which the recognised body is meeting requirements for certification in subsections (1), (3) and (4).

(10) If having reviewed a recognised body the Recognition Commission is no longer satisfied that it complies with subsections (1), (3) and (4), the Recognition Commission must consult the body and give directions designed to ensure that the body complies with subsections (1), (3) and (4).

(11) If the body fails to comply with directions given under subsection (10) within a reasonable time, the Recognition Commission must revoke the body’s certification.

(12) In making decisions under this Act, the Recognition Commission must aim to adopt procedures which are transparent and must, in particular—

(a) publish information and invite representations about applications made to it,

(b) publish information about the progress of proceedings on consideration of applications, and

(c) publish the determination of applications.

(13) Interference with the operation of the Recognition Commission by Ministers of the Crown, public officials or news publishers shall be unlawful (and any actual or threatened breach of this provision shall be actionable in the High Court at the instance of the Recognition Commission).

(14) The Recognition Commission shall not be involved in the regulation of any media organisation.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Reports by Recognition Commission on Failure

(1) Within 3 months of a trigger event specified in subsection (2), the Recognition Commission must send a report to the Secretary of State and to the Speaker of the House of Commons drawing their attention to the fact that the system of regulation is not sufficiently effective.

(2) The following are trigger events—

(a) the first anniversary of the commencement of section (Recognition), if there is no recognised regulator certified under that section,

(b) the end of any continuous period of 6 months, after the first anniversary of the commencement of section (Recognition), at which there is no recognised regulator,

(c) the first anniversary of the commencement of section (Recognition), if in the opinion of the Recognition Commission there is a significant news publisher who is not a subscriber to a recognised regulator,

(d) the end of the period of 3 months, beginning with the date of revocation of a recognised regulator’s certificate of recognition, if in the opinion of the Recognition Commission a significant news publisher which was at the time of revocation a subscriber to that recognised regulator is not a subscriber to a recognised regulator, and

(e) the end of any continuous period of 6 months, after the first anniversary of the commencement of section (Recognition), during which in the opinion of the Recognition Commission a significant news publisher was not a subscriber to a recognised regulator.

(3) For the purposes of this section, a “significant news publisher” is a news publisher which in the opinion of the Recognition Commission has a weekly readership which would place it within the first twenty of a list of news publishers ranked in descending order of weekly readership.

(4) The Secretary of State must, within 3 months of the receipt of a report under subsection (1), lay proposals for the regulation of news publishers before Parliament for approval by each House of Parliament within one month of their being laid.

(5) If proposals are not approved under subsection (4) (or this subsection) the Secretary of State must within one month lay amended proposals before Parliament for approval by each House of Parliament within one month of their being laid.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Data protection

In considering the exercise of any of its powers in relation to news publishers, the Information Commissioner shall have regard whether such publishers are subscribers regulated by a recognised regulator with the purpose of reducing the burden of regulation on such news publishers.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Freedom of Information and Public Functions

(1) In Part 6 of Schedule 1 to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (public bodies and offices), insert at the appropriate place—

“A recognised regulator under section 78C of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013.

The Recognition Commission constituted in accordance with Schedule (The Recognition Commission) to the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013.”

(2) The functions of the Recognition Commission and of a recognised regulator are to be treated as public functions.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Royal Charters

Royal Charters: requirements for Parliamentary approval

Where a body is established by Royal Charter after 1 March 2013 with functions relating to the carrying on of an industry, no recommendation may be made to Her Majesty in Council to amend the body’s Charter or dissolve the body unless any requirements included in the Charter on the date it is granted for Parliament to approve the amendment or dissolution have been met.”

Insert the following new Schedule—

“SCHEDULE The Recognition Commission Introduction

1 This Schedule provides the method by which the Recognition Commission shall be constituted.

Appointment of the Recognition Commission

2 The appointment of the first Chair of the Recognition Commission together with at least 4 initial other Members shall follow a fair and open process, independent of news publishers, politicians and the Government to be conducted in the manner, and by the persons, described in this Schedule.

3 The responsibility for identifying and appointing the Chair of the Recognition Commission shall be that of an Appointments Committee, constituted in accordance with paragraphs 5 to 10, and the Appointments Committee shall ensure that the Chair is appointed before the appointment of any other member.

4 The other initial Members of the Recognition Commission shall be identified and appointed by the Appointments Committee, acting together with the Chair of the Recognition Commission.

Appointments Committee

5 The Appointments Committee shall consist of four individuals.

6 The Chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission shall be ex officio Chair of the Appointments Committee.

7 The Chair of the Appointments Committee shall appoint to the Committee—

(a) two members who, in the Chair’s opinion, are independent of political parties, the Government and news publishers; and

(b) one person who, in the Chair’s opinion, is independent of political parties, the Government and news publishers and is a Public Appointments Assessor (appointed pursuant to the Public Appointments Order in Council 2002) nominated for membership of the Appointments Committee by the Commissioner for Public Appointments for England and Wales.

8 In order to ensure the independence of the Committee, the following shall be ineligible to be appointed to the Appointments Committee—

(a) a serving editor or current employee of a publication of a relevant publisher;

(b) a relevant publisher or a person who is otherwise involved in the publication of news or current affairs in the United Kingdom;

(c) a person who is involved in the governance of or is employed by a recognised regulator or by a body which is seeking recognition as a recognised regulator;

(d) a person who is, or has been, a member of the House of Commons, the House of Lords, the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly or the National Assembly for Wales and whilst a member has been affiliated to any political party;

(e) a person who is, or has ever been, a Minister of the Crown, a Scottish Minister, a Northern Ireland Minister, or a Welsh Minister;

(f) a person who has held an appointment under Article 3(2) of the Civil Service Order in Council 1995 (or its predecessor or replacement);

(g) a person who has in the previous 10 years held elected political office at principal local authority level or above or who is or has been employed by a political party.

9 A person may not be appointed to the Appointments Committee under paragraph 7(a) unless the Commissioner for Public Appointments in England and Wales has published written confirmation that—

(a) the selection process was fair and open and independent of political parties, the Government and news publishers; and

(b) that the person is independent.

10 The members of the Appointments Committee shall serve in a personal capacity.

Criteria for Appointment to the Recognition Commission

11 In making any appointment under this Schedule, the matters set out in paragraph 12 shall be used for—

(a) determining the overall nature of the membership of the Recognition Commission; and

(b) assessing the suitability of any particular person to be appointed as the Chair or a Member of the Recognition Commission.

12 The criteria for appointment as a Member of the Recognition Commission are that every member shall have an understanding of the context within which a Regulator will operate and at least one Member of the Recognition Commission should:

(a) have legal qualifications and skills, together with an understanding of the legal framework within which the Recognition Commission must operate;

(b) financial skills, including experience of delivering value for money;

(c) experience of public policy making, particularly in the context of consumer rights;

(d) be a man;

(e) be a woman.

13 In order to ensure the independence of the Recognition Commission, the disqualifications in paragraph 8 apply to the Commission.

14 A person may not be appointed to the Recognition Commission unless the Commissioner for Public Appointments in England and Wales has published written confirmation that—

(a) the selection process was fair and open; and

(b) the person appointed is independent.

Terms of Membership

15 Each Member of the Recognition Commission, including the Chair, shall hold and vacate office in accordance with the terms of this Schedule.

16 Each Member shall be eligible to serve for an initial term of 6 years and shall be eligible for reappointment for a further period of 3 years.

17 The Recognition Commission may make arrangements for the payment of allowances to Members; the amounts shall be set having regard to the prevailing rates payable to the members of equivalent public sector bodies.

Termination

18 A member of the Recognition Commission may resign by giving notice in writing to the Recognition Commission.

19 The Chair or any Member of the Recognition Commission may be dismissed by a majority vote of the Commission where they are satisfied that the Chair or Member is unwilling, unable or unfit to discharge functions under this Schedule.

20 The Chair or a Member may not be dismissed unless the Commissioner for Public Appointments in England and Wales has published written confirmation that the dismissal process was fair, open, and independent of news publishers, of political parties and of the Government.

Further Appointments

21 Upon any person, including the Chair, ceasing to be a Member of the Recognition Commission for any reason, or the Recognition Commission determining that the appointment of an additional Member is desirable the process for appointing a successor or additional Member (as appropriate) shall be fair and open, and meet the requirements of paragraphs 11 to 14; and the responsibility for making such an appointment (including selection) shall be with the serving Members of the Recognition Commission, and not the Appointments Committee.

Money

22 The Secretary of State must within two months of Royal Assent set aside the sum of £5 million for the purposes of this Schedule.

23 The sum set aside under paragraph 22 is to be invested by the Secretary of State, and investment receipts are to be added to the capital and set aside for the purposes of this Schedule.

24 The Appointments Committee and the Recognition Commission may apply to the Secretary of State for sums to be made available in respect of expenditure incurred or to be incurred by the Committee or the Commission; and

(a) the Secretary of State shall grant applications;

(b) but if the Secretary of State is concerned about sums expended or to be expended, or the manner in which decisions about expenditure have been or are to be taken, or the methods of procurement adopted, the Secretary of State may refer the matter to, and comply with any directions given by, the Comptroller and Auditor General.

25 The Appointments Committee and the Recognition Commission shall have regard to any guidance given to them by the Treasury in relation to—

(a) best practice in relation to procurement in the public sector;

(b) any applicable European Union law relating to procurement;

(c) accounting practice and record-keeping in the public sector; and

(d) any other financial matters on which the Treasury think it appropriate to give guidance.

Procedure

26 The Appointments Committee shall regulate its own procedure.

27 The Recognition Commission shall, subject to section 78D, regulate its own procedure.

Status of the Appointments Committee and the Recognition Commission

28 The Appointments Committee and the Recognition Commission are not to be regarded—

(a) as the servant or agent of the Crown; or

(b) as enjoying any status, immunity or privilege of the Crown.

Powers

29 The Appointments Committee and the Recognition Commission may do anything calculated to facilitate, or incidental or conducive to, the carrying out of any of their functions.

30 The Recognition Commission may charge fees to bodies which apply to be recognised.

31 The Appointments Committee and the Recognition Commission may appoint staff and engage services.”

Insert the following new Schedule—

“SCHEDULE Minimum requirements for recognised regulators Structure

1 A recognised regulator must be a company limited by guarantee.

Company objects

2 The principal objects of a recognised regulator must be to—

(a) ensure the protection of freedom of expression of news publishers,

(b) protect the public interest by ensuring ethical, accurate and truthful reporting by news publishers,

(c) maintain certain minimum ethical and professional standards among news publishers, and

(d) ensure that the privacy and dignity of the individual is protected.

Independence

3 A recognised regulator must be independent in the performance of its functions.

Access to services

4 The regulatory system provided by a recognised regulator must be open to subscription by any news publisher or other publisher on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms (although subscription should be made available on different terms for different types of publishers).

Governing Board

5 A recognised regulator must be governed by an independent Board, the members of which are appointed without any influence of news publishers or the Government.

6 The Board must be appointed by an independent panel which must—

(a) be appointed in an independent, fair and open way;

(b) contain a substantial majority of members who are demonstrably independent of news publishers;

(c) include at least one person with current experience of news publishers;

(d) include no more than one current editor of a news publisher;

(e) not include any Minister of the Crown, or any present or former member of the House of Commons or the House of Lords or of any devolved Parliament or Assembly who, while a member, has been affiliated to any political party.

7 The Chair of the Board—

(a) must be appointed by the independent panel by an independent, fair and open process, and

(b) must be independent of all political parties and all media organisations.

8 The other members of the Board must be appointed by the independent panel, and the Chair of the Board, using the same independent, fair and open process; and the process must be designed to secure that the Board—

(a) comprises a majority of members who are independent of news publishers,

(b) includes a sufficient number of members with experience of the media who may include former editors and senior or academic journalists,

(c) does not include any serving editor of a news publisher,

(d) does not include any Minister of the Crown, or any present or former member of the House of Commons or the House of Lords or of any devolved Parliament or Assembly who, while a member, has been affiliated to any political party.

(e) numbers among its members at least one third men and at least one third women.

Finance

9 A recognised regulator must be funded under the terms of an agreement between news publishers and the Board of the regulator, taking into account the cost of fulfilling obligations of a regulator and the commercial pressures on news publishers.

10 The Board of a recognised regulator must prepare an indicative budget which it certifies is adequate for the purpose, in accordance with which funding settlements—

(a) cover five-year periods, and

(b) are negotiated with a minimum notice period of 2 years excluding the year of establishment of the regulator.

Standards Code

11 A recognised regulator must have a Standards Code which is the responsibility of the Board, advised by a Code Committee which may comprise both members of the Board and serving editors of news publishers.

12 The Code Committee—

(a) must include members of the Board who are independent of news publishers (“independent members”),

(b) may include serving editors of news publishers, and

(c) must have a simple majority of independent members.

13 The Standards Code must take into account the importance of freedom of speech and the public interest.

14 The Standards Code must set out the ethical and legal context within which it applies; together with a clear picture of how good journalism serves the public interest and the implications that has for journalistic behaviour; and the Code must cover standards for—

(a) conduct, especially in relation to the treatment of other people in the process of obtaining material,

(b) appropriate respect for privacy where there is no sufficient public-interest justification for breach, and

(c) accuracy and the need to avoid misrepresentation.

15 A recognised regulator must provide guidance, in the context of different provisions of the Standards Code, on the interpretation of “public interest” that justifies conduct that would otherwise be a breach of the Code.

16 The Standards Code must provide that news publishers will be held strictly accountable for any material that they publish, including photographs (however sourced).

17 A recognised regulator must establish a whistleblowing hotline for those who feel that they are being asked to do things which are contrary to the Standards Code.

Governance of subscribers

18 A recognised regulator must require all subscribers—

(a) to maintain appropriate internal governance processes, in particular in relation to the process of obtaining material for publication,

(b) to provide transparency on what governance processes they have in place, and

(c) to give notice of any failures in compliance with the Code, as well as details of steps taken to address those failures.

Complaints handling

19 A recognised regulator must—

(a) require all subscribers to have an adequate and speedy complaints handling mechanism;

(b) encourage those who wish to complain to do so through that mechanism;

(c) not receive complaints directly unless or until the internal complaints system has been engaged and the complaint has not been resolved within specified time limits.

20 In relation to complaints—

(a) a recognised regulator must have the power to hear and decide on complaints about breach of the standards code by subscribers;

(b) a recognised regulator must have the power (but not necessarily in all cases, depending on the circumstances, the duty) to hear complaints whoever they come from, whether persons personally and directly affected by the alleged breach, or a representative group affected by the alleged breach, or a third party seeking to ensure accuracy of published information (in which case the views of the party most closely involved should be taken into account);

(c) a recognised regulator must have the power to allow a complaint to be brought prior to commencing legal proceedings, without prejudice to any power of the court to order a stay of the regulator’s action if continuing it would endanger the civil action;

(d) decisions on complaints must be the ultimate responsibility of the Board, advised by complaints handling officials to whom appropriate delegations may be made;

(e) serving editors may not have any role in determining the outcome of individuals’ complaints, nor be members of any Committee advising the Board on complaints and any such Committee must have a composition broadly reflecting that of the main Board, with a majority of people who are independent of the press; and

(f) the mechanism must allow complainants to bring complaints free of charge.

Investigations

21 The arrangements for subscription to each registered regulator must ensure that—

(a) the Board has authority to examine issues on its own initiative,

(b) the Board has sufficient powers, and personnel with the necessary experience and expertise and independence from news publishers, to carry out investigations both into suspected serious or systemic breaches of the Code and failures to comply with directions of the Board,

(c) subscribers are required to cooperate with any such investigation, and

(d) the investigation process is simple and credible.

Breaches of Standards Code

22 A Board must have both the power and a duty to ensure that all breaches of the Standards Code that it considers are recorded as such and that proper data is kept that records the extent to which complaints have been made and their outcome; and this information must be made available to the public in a way that allows understanding of the compliance record of each subscribing member.

23 In relation to breaches of the Standards Code which a Board finds to have been established—

(a) the Board must have the power to direct appropriate remedial action for breach of standards and the publication of corrections and apologies;

(b) the Board must have the power to require publication of a correction and an apology, both in relation to standards breaches affecting individuals or groups of people, and in relation to matters of fact where no single identifiable individual has been affected;

(c) the Board must have the power to direct the nature, extent and placement of apologies;

(d) the Board must have the power to impose appropriate and proportionate sanctions (including financial sanctions up to 1% of turnover, with a maximum of £1 million) on any subscriber found to be responsible for serious or systemic breaches of the Standards Code or governance requirements of the body;

(e) the Board must not have the power to prevent publication of any material, by anyone, at any time although (in its discretion) it should be able to offer a service of advice to editors of subscribing publications relating to Standards Code compliance which editors, in their discretion, can deploy in civil proceedings arising out of publication.

Matters for consideration by the Board

24 The Board must demonstrate at the time of certification under section (Recognition (1)) that it has the ability and a timetable to consider all the matters set out in paragraph 26.

25 The Board must demonstrate at the time of—

(a) a review under section (Recognition)(5)(a) that it has considered the matters set out in paragraph 26 since certification; and

(b) a review under section (Recognition) (5)(b) that it has considered the matters set out in paragraph 26 since the previous review.

26 The matters to be considered by the Board are—

(a) the publication of compliance reports by papers in their own pages, and requiring papers to have named senior individuals with responsibility for compliance;

(b) the establishment of a kite-mark scheme;

(c) the holding of an early review of the Standards Code;

(d) Standards Code amendments giving the recognised regulator the power to intervene in cases of allegedly discriminatory reports, having regard to the need to protect freedom of speech and the need to reflect the purpose of equalities legislation;

(e) the need to be explicit in its work that where public-interest justification will be used, there should be a record of factors weighing for and against publication, and of conclusions reached;

(f) the provision of an advisory service to editors in relation to public-interest considerations;

(g) encouragement of its subscribers to be transparent with stories’ sources by providing information to help readers assess reliability of the information provided, such as links to studies and poll results and the names of photographers, subject to the condition that such transparency does not undermine the protection of confidential sources; and

(h) a requirement for there to be a conscience clause in journalists’ contracts.

Annual report

27 The Board must publish an Annual Report identifying—

(a) the body’s subscribers, identifying any significant changes in subscriber numbers;

(b) the number of complaints it has handled and the outcomes reached, both in aggregate for all subscribers and individually in relation to each subscriber;

(c) a summary of any investigations carried out and their results;

(d) a report on the adequacy and effectiveness of compliance processes and procedures adopted by each subscriber;

(e) information about the extent to which the arbitration service has been used;

(f) information relating to its financial arrangements in the exercise of its functions and any changes to its financial arrangements.

Arbitration process

28 The Board must provide an arbitration service for resolving publication proceedings by arbitration which has rules which provides for a fair, quick and inexpensive process, which is inquisitorial and free for complainants to use (save for a power to make an adverse order for the costs of the arbitrator if proceedings are frivolous or vexatious) and which has rules that—

(a) allow complainants to recover their costs from persons subscribing to the service, in circumstances where procedural fairness or access to justice requires this;

(b) give the arbitrator the powers in section 48(3) to (5) of the Arbitration Act 1996;

(c) allow either party to appeal to the High Court on a point of law in accordance with section 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996;

(d) allow the arbitrator to hold hearings where necessary or dispense with them where not necessary; and

(e) provide for frivolous or vexatious claims to be struck out at an early stage.

Enforcement fund

29 The Board must establish a ring-fenced enforcement fund into which receipts from financial sanctions are paid, for the purpose of funding investigations.

Advice to public

30 The Board must have the duty to provide advice to the public in relation to issues concerning its subscribers and the Code.

Advice to the media

31 The Board must have the duty to provide a service to warn its subscribers, and other relevant parties such as broadcasters and press photographers, when an individual has made it clear that they do not welcome press intrusion.

Duty to co-operate

32 The Board must have the duty to cooperate with any other recognised regulator and must put in place procedures to enable such co-operation.”

Page 81, line 1, leave out “and 64(1) and (2)” and insert “, 64(1) and (2) and (Abolition of Agricultural Wages Board and related English bodies)(1) to (3)”

Line 2, leave out “to (3)” and insert “and (2)”

Page 81, line 4, at end insert “, and

(e) an amendment, repeal or revocation made by Schedule (Abolition of Agricultural Wages Board and related English bodies: consequential provision) has the same extent as the provision amended, repealed or revoked, subject to subsection (5A).

(5A) The repeals of the following provisions in Schedule (Abolition of Agricultural Wages Board and related English bodies: consequential provision) extend to England and Wales only—

(a) section 67 of the Agriculture Act 1967,

(b) paragraph 32 of Schedule 2 to the Social Security (Consequential Provisions) Act 1975,

(c) paragraph 10 of Schedule 4 to the Social Security Pensions Act 1975,

(d) paragraph 12 of Schedule 17 to the Employment Protection Act 1975, and

(e) paragraph 4 of Schedule 2 to the Social Security (Consequential Provisions) Act 1992.”

Line 5, leave out from “revoked” to end of line 16

Page 81, line 9, leave out “section 78 extends” and insert “—

( ) sections (Power to add to supplies protected under Insolvency Act 1986), (Corporate insolvency: power to give further protection to essential supplies), (Sections (Corporate insolvency: power to give further protection to essential supplies) and (Individual insolvency: power to give further protection to essential supplies): supplemental) and 78 extend”

Page 81, line 9, at end insert—

“( ) section (Individual insolvency: power to give further protection to essential supplies) extends only to England and Wales.”

Page 81, line 9, at end insert “sections (Interpretation: “the media”, “news publishers” etc to Freedom of Information and Public Functions), extend only to England and Wales”

Page 81, line 12, at end insert—

“( ) section (ACAS: prohibition on disclosure of information);”

Page 81, line 13, at end insert—

“( ) section (Transitional provision: consultation);”

Page 81, line 14, leave out “section 46” and insert “sections 46 and (Orders under section 46: procedural requirements)”

Page 81, line 16, at end insert—

“( ) sections (Power to add to supplies protected under Insolvency Act 1986), (Corporate insolvency: power to give further protection to essential supplies), (Individual insolvency: power to give further protection to essential supplies) and (Sections (Corporate insolvency: power to give further protection to essential supplies) and (Individual insolvency: power to give further protection to essential supplies): supplemental;”

Page 81, line 20, after “regulations” insert “, rules”

Page 81, line 26, after “11,” insert “(Dismissal for political opinions etc: no qualifying period of employment),”

Page 81, line 26, leave out “15” and insert “(Disclosures not protected unless believed to be made in the public interest), (Power to reduce compensation where disclosure not made in good faith), (Extension of meaning of “worker”)”

Page 81, line 28, at end insert—

“( ) sections (Interpretation: “the media”, “news publishers” etc to Freedom of Information and Public Functions);”

Line 8, after “data;” insert “to make provision for the protection of essential supplies in cases of insolvency;”