Amendments proposed to the Utilities Bill - continued	House of Commons
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Consolidation of Acts

   

Mr Ian Bruce [R]

NC4

To move the following Clause:—

    '—The Acts listed in Schedule 7 that have been substantially amended by this and earlier Acts shall be reprinted in consolidated form and the earlier Acts be repealed.'.

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Anti-competitive behaviour

   

Mr Nick Gibb
Mrs Eleanor Laing
Mr Ian Bruce [R]
Mr Christopher Chope
Mr Christopher Fraser

NC5

To move the following Clause—

    '( ).—(1) Subject to subsection (2), where it appears to the Authority that a licence holder has behaved or is behaving in a manner which infringes—

(a) the Chapter I prohibition, or

(b) the Chapter II prohibition,

    then to the extent that the Authority proposes to take any action against that licence holder in respect of that behaviour it shall do so by exercising its competition powers rather than by exercising any other functions under the 1986 Act or the 1989 Act.

    (2) Subsection (1) does not apply where the Authority determines that—

(a) a licence holder has infringed or is infringing the Chapter I prohibition or the Chapter II prohibition; and

(b) for the reasons given by the Authority in that determination, it is appropriate for the Authority to deal with that behaviour by the exercise of powers other than its competition powers.

    (3) Where the Authority—

(a) makes a determination in accordance with subsection (2), and

(b) decides to take any action against the licence holder by exercising any functions under the 1986 Act or the 1989 Act other than its competition powers,

    the licence holder may appeal against that decision to the Competition Commission Appeal Tribunal as if the decision was a decision reached by the Authority in the exercise of its competition powers and the tribunal may hear and dispose of the appeal accordingly.

    (4) In this section—

"the Chapter I prohibition" and "the Chapter II prohibition" have the same meaning as in the Competition Act 1998;

"Competition Commission Appeal Tribunal" means an appeal tribunal established in accordance with the provisions of Part III of Schedule 7 to that Act for the purpose of hearing an appeal under section 46 or 47 of that Act; and

"competition powers" means the powers conferred upon the Authority by section 54 of and Schedule 10 to that Act.'

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Mr Chris Mullin

464

Title,     line     3,     leave out from 'Authority' to 'to' in line 5 and insert ' and the Telecommunications Consumer Council'.

   

Mr Chris Mullin

465

Title,     line     6,     leave out 'electricity and water' and insert 'and electricity'.

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Prepared 30 Mar 2000