11

House of Commons

Thursday 11 November 2010

Public Bill Committee

New Amendments handed in are marked thus

Amendments which will comply with the required notice period at their next appearance

Postal Services Bill

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Caroline Lucas

1

Clause  1,  page  1,  line  5,  leave out subsection (1).

Nia Griffith

Gordon Banks

13

Clause  1,  page  1,  line  7,  after ‘repealed’, insert ‘but the restrictions in sections 65 to

67 of the Postal Services Act 2000 will be reverted to if any sale is not completed by 31

December 2011.’.

Nia Griffith

Gordon Banks

14

Clause  1,  page  1,  line  7,  after ‘repealed’, insert ‘but the restrictions in sections 65 to

67 of the Postal Services Act 2000 will be reverted to if any sale is not completed by 30

June 2012.’.

Nia Griffith

Gordon Banks

12

Page  1,  line  4,  leave out Clause 1.

Nia Griffith

Gordon Banks

16

Clause  2,  page  1,  line  16,  leave out subsection (2) and insert—

‘(2)	A disposal of the Crown’s interest in a Royal Mail company will not be

authorised until—

Public Bill Committee: 11 November 2010

12

Postal Services Bill, continued

(a)	the Secretary of State has secured a written contract from the proposed

purchaser that at least one representative from those directly-employed

by Royal Mail or its successors will sit on the board of the new body;

(b)	the Secretary of State has secured a written contract from the purchaser

that the headquarters of the new body will be located in the United

Kingdom;

(c)	it has been agreed that any subsequent plans to relocate the headquarters

of the new body will require the approval of the Secretary of State;

(d)	a consultation exercise has been held where all those engaged in the

provision of postal services in the UK have the opportunity to express

their views on the proposed transfer, and the Secretary of State has

responded formally to that consultation;

(e)	a vote of all employees of the affected Royal Mail company has taken

place and a minimum of 50 per cent. + 1 of the workforce have voted in

favour of the proposed transfer; and

(f)	the Secretary of State has presented to Parliament a bill which confers on

the Secretary of State the power to dispose of the business and the duty

to report to Parliament on—

(i)	all aspects of the proposed transfer;

(ii)	how he proposes to enshrine the universal service provision as

laid out in section 28 of this Act in law in respect of the new

legislation; and

(iii)

how much of the Royal Mail company’s modernisation budget

has been spent at the proposed time of transfer and the value of

the unspent budget, whilst detailing the percentage progress

made towards existing modernisation goals.’.

Nia Griffith

Gordon Banks

17

Clause  2,  page  1,  line  16,  leave out from ‘after’ to end of Clause and add

‘identifying the preferred successful bidder, the Secretary of State must deliver an oral

statement to Parliament on the matter and lay an order on the proposed disposal which will

be subject to the super-affirmative procedure under section 18 of the Legislative and

Regulatory Reform Act 2006.’.

Nia Griffith

Gordon Banks

18

Clause  2,  page  1,  line  16,  leave out from ‘after’ to end of Clause and insert

‘identifying the preferred successful bidder, the Secretary of State must deliver an oral

statement to Parliament on the matter and lay an order on the proposed disposal which will

be subject to the affirmative resolution procedure.’.

Nia Griffith

Gordon Banks

15

Clause  2,  page  1,  line  17,  leave out ‘a report’ and insert ‘a bill which empowers the

Secretary of State to dispose of the business and imposes on him the duty to report to

Parliament on the disposal.’.

Public Bill Committee: 11 November 2010

13

Postal Services Bill, continued

Nia Griffith

Gordon Banks

19

Clause  2,  page  2,  line  12,  leave out ‘a’ and insert ‘the’.

Nia Griffith

Gordon Banks

20

Clause  2,  page  2,  line  13,  leave out ‘a’ and insert ‘the’.

Nia Griffith

Gordon Banks

21

Clause  2,  page  2,  line  13,  leave out from ‘service’ to end of Clause.

Mr Mike Weir

3

Clause  11,  page  6,  line  22,  leave out ‘the company’s’.

Mr Mike Weir

4

Clause  11,  page  6,  line  22,  at end add—

‘(aa)

the nature and extent of any business run in parallel with the post office

business,’.

Caroline Lucas

2

Clause  11,  page  6,  line  35,  at end insert—

‘(3A)

The report must state the extent to which the Post Office network assists

individuals in completing Government forms.’.

Mr Mike Weir

5

Clause  11,  page  6,  line  38,  at end add ‘and the Government must set a date for a

debate on the report on the floor of the House within five days of the report being laid.’.

Mr Mike Weir

6

Clause  28,  page  15,  line  10,  at end add—

‘(c)	the needs of small business users in rural and remote areas.’.

Public Bill Committee: 11 November 2010

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Postal Services Bill, continued

Mr Mike Weir

7

Clause  30,  page  16,  line  8,  leave out ‘Friday’ and insert ‘Saturday’.

Mr Mike Weir

8

Clause  30,  page  16,  line  20,  leave out ‘Friday’ and insert ‘Saturday’.

Mr Mike Weir

9

Clause  32,  page  18,  line  8,  leave out sub-paragraph (b).

Mr Mike Weir

10

Clause  35,  page  19,  line  40,  leave out ‘or in a specified area of the United

Kingdom’.

Mr Mike Weir

11

Clause  35,  page  20,  line  16,  leave out ‘seek to’.

New Clauses

Royal Mail Holdings plc to be wholly owned by the Crown

Nia Griffith

Gordon Banks

NC1

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)	Royal Mail Holdings plc is wholly owned by the Crown.

(2)	The restrictions on dealings are outlined in sections 65 to 67 of the Postal Services

Act 2000.’.

Public Bill Committee: 11 November 2010

15

Postal Services Bill, continued

Government to retain majority shareholding in Royal Mail Holdings plc and subsidiaries

Nia Griffith

Gordon Banks

NC2

To move the following Clause:—

‘The Government must retain a majority of shareholdings in Royal Mail Holdings

plc and its relevant subsidiaries.’.

Order of the House [27 OCTOBER 2010]

That the following provisions shall apply to the Postal Services Bill:

Committal

1.	The Bill shall be committed to a Public Bill Committee.

Proceedings in Public Bill Committee

2.	Proceedings in the Public Bill Committee shall (so far as not previously

concluded) be brought to a conclusion on Thursday 9 December 2010.

3.	The Public Bill Committee shall have leave to sit twice on the first day on

which it meets.

Consideration and Third Reading

4.	Proceedings on consideration shall (so far as not previously concluded) be

brought to a conclusion one hour before the moment of interruption on the

day on which those proceedings are commenced.

5.	Proceedings on Third Reading shall (so far as not previously concluded) be

brought to a conclusion at the moment of interruption on that day.

6.	Standing Order No. 83B (Programming committees) shall not apply to

proceedings on consideration and Third Reading.

Other proceedings

7.	Any other proceedings on the Bill (including any proceedings on

consideration of Lords Amendments or on any further messages from the

Lords) may be programmed.

Order of the Committee [9 november 2010]

That—

(1)	the Committee shall (in addition to its first meeting at 10.30 am on Tuesday

9 November) meet—

(a)	at 4.00 pm on Tuesday 9 November;

(b)	at 9.00 am and 1.00 pm on Thursday 11 November;

(c)	at 10.30 am and 4.00 pm on Tuesday 16 November;

(d)	at 9.00 am and 1.00 pm on Thursday 18 November;

(e)	at 10.30 am and 4.00 pm on Tuesday 23 November;

(f)	at 9.00 am and 1.00 pm on Thursday 25 November;

(g)	at 10.30 am and 4.00 pm on Tuesday 30 November;

(h)	at 9.00 am and 1.00 pm on Thursday 2 December;

Public Bill Committee: 11 November 2010

16

Postal Services Bill, continued

(i)	at 10.30 am and 4.00 pm on Tuesday 7 December;

(j)	at 9.00 am and 1.00 pm on Thursday 9 December;

(2)	the Committee shall hear oral evidence in accordance with the following

Table:

TABLE

	Date	Time	Witness
	Tuesday 9	Until no later	Royal Mail
	November	than noon
	Tuesday 9	Until no later	Communication Workers Union
	November	than 1.00 pm	Unite
			National Federation of SubPostmasters
	Tuesday 9	Until no later	Office of Communications (Ofcom)
	November	than 5.00 pm	Postal Services Commission (Postcomm)
	Tuesday 9	Until no later	Mail Users’ Association
	November	than 6.00 pm	Mail Competition Forum
	Tuesday 9	Until no later	Mutuo
	November	than 7.00 pm	Employee Ownership Association
			ifs ProShare
	Thursday 11	Until no later	Consumer Focus
	November	than 9.55 am	Association of British Credit Unions
			Limited
	Thursday 11	Until no later	Royal Mail Pension Plan Trustees
	November	than 10.25 am
	Thursday 11	Until no later	Richard Hooper CBE, Chair of the
	November	than 2.00 pm	independent review of the UK postal
			services sector
	Thursday 11	Until no later	Department for Business, Innovation and
	November	than 3.00 pm	Skills

(3)	proceedings on consideration of the Bill in Committee shall be taken in the

following order: Clauses 1 to 8; Schedule 1; Clauses 9 and 10; Schedule 2;

Clauses 11 to 37; Schedule 3; Clauses 38 to 41; Schedule 4; Clauses 42 to 50;

Schedule 5; Clause 51; Schedule 6; Clause 52; Schedule 7; Clause 53;

Schedule 8; Clauses 54 to 64; Schedule 9; Clauses 65 to 71; Schedules 10 and

11; Clauses 72 to 89; Schedule 12; Clauses 90 and 91; new Clauses; new

Schedules; remaining proceedings on the Bill;

(4)	the proceedings shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a

conclusion at 5.00 pm on Thursday 9 December.

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Revised 11 November 2010