Grocery Market Ombudsman Bill – in a Public Bill Committee am 4:45 pm ar 30 Mawrth 2010.
David Drew
Llafur, Stroud
It is a delight to serve under your chairmanship, Mr. O’Hara. I shall not detain the Committee very long, but I should like to ask my hon. Friend the Member for Ynys Môn a question. Subsection (1) says that when an investigation is not pursued by the ombudsman, it will be explained in writing to the complainant and the OFT. Is the implication that that explanation will eventually be made public? I am aware that Clause 4 links to clause 10 in terms of reporting requirements, but I am interested to know what happens. To my mind, this should be about transparency. When an investigation is clearly taken forward, the reporting procedures ensure that that will be made known, that there will be a report and that the report will be made public. I want to know that when there is no reason for the ombudsman to take an investigation forward, it will still be published, because that way the general public will have some idea that a complaint was made and that a decision was taken not to pursue it.
We give the responsibility to the ombudsman. None the less, my hon. Friend is right that we need to have transparency. If he remembers, the formula works on the number of complaints and the number of complaints that are upheld. However, if there were a series of complaints on malicious grounds against a particular company, the ombudsman should have that right and responsibility to put into the public domain what they feel necessary.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
