(1)If the Secretary of State proposes to make a sectoral regulator order, the Secretary of State must carry out the first stage consultation.
(2)The first stage consultation is consultation with—
(a)the regulator whose functions would be removed by the order,
(b)the Competition and Markets Authority,
(c)where the regulator is [F1the Office of Rail and Road] , the Scottish Ministers,
(d)where the regulator is the Northern Ireland Authority for Utility Regulation, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland and the Department for Regional Development in Northern Ireland, and
(e)where the regulator is the Water Services Regulation Authority, the Welsh Ministers.
(3)If (following the first stage consultation) the Secretary of State still proposes to make a sectoral regulator order, the Secretary of State must carry out the second stage consultation.
(4)The second stage consultation is consultation with—
(a)the persons consulted at the first stage,
(b)any bodies who appear to the Secretary of State to represent the interests of persons in respect of whom the functions that would be removed by the order are exercisable (“regulated providers”),
(c)any bodies who appear to the Secretary of State to represent the interests of persons who use the services supplied by regulated providers, and
(d)such other persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.
(5)The Secretary of State must give the following information to each of the persons consulted as part of the first stage or second stage consultation—
(a)an explanation as to whether the Secretary of State is proposing to remove the functions of the regulator mentioned in subsection (2)(a) of section 52, the functions of the regulator mentioned in subsection (2)(b) of that section or both sets of functions;
(b)the reasons why the Secretary of State considers it appropriate to make the order.
(6)The reference to the Competition and Markets Authority in subsection (2) is to be read, in relation to any time before the commencement of section 25(3), as a reference to the Office of Fair Trading.
(7)In this section, “sectoral regulator order” has the same meaning as in section 52.
Textual Amendments
F1Words in s. 53(2)(c) substituted (16.10.2015) by The Office of Rail Regulation (Change of Name) Regulations 2015 (S.I. 2015/1682), reg. 1(2), Sch. para. 4(v)(ii)