Postal Services Bill passes through Lords
The UK Postal Services Bill has completed its passage through the House of Lords. Amendments made by the Government in the Lords will now be considered by the House of Commons on 9 June. The consideration session in the Commons is the final stage before Royal Assent.
As well as allowing private investment into Royal Mail, the Bill outlines that Post Office Ltd could move to a mutual ownership model, Ofcom will become the regulator to the UK postal industry, and the government will take on Royal Mail Group’s pension deficit. The Government made a number of amendments to the Bill in April.
Baroness Wilcox, parliamentary secretary for business, innovation and skills, has taken the legislation through the House of Lords on behalf of the Government.
She said: “I am delighted that our important proposals have passed through the Lords. This is a significant milestone in delivering our objective of securing the future of Royal Mail and the Post Office – two proud cornerstones of our society.
“I’d like to thank all the Peers who contributed to the many hours of rigorous, informed and passionate debate.”
During the Bill’s time in the Lords the Government listened to suggestions and made a series of amendments to further strengthen the legislation. The changes will give extra regulatory certainty to Royal Mail and increase transparency by putting even more reporting requirements on the Government, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said.
During the Third Reading session Baroness Wilcox confirmed the next steps in the Government’s timetable: Summer 2011- Postal Services Bill expected to complete its passage through Parliament & Government to submit state aid application to the European Commission; Spring 2012 – The new regulator for Postal Services, Ofcom, will establish the new regulatory framework for postal services; March 2012 – Target date for Government to take on Royal Mail’s historic pension deficit, subject to state aid clearance.
With these steps in place, the Government said it “will be able to begin the process of securing the private sector investment that Royal Mail needs”.
