Commentary on Sections Introduction Other Section 152: Certain duties of OFT and Commission
351.This section ensures that the OFT and the CC pass any relevant information to the Secretary of State.
352.Subsection (1) provides that the OFT will inform the Secretary of State if it believes that any case it is considering raises any issue specified in section 153 that the Secretary of State would not consider immaterial. Subsection (2) provides that, in the four months following a market reference, the CC will inform the Secretary of State if it believes that an investigation raises issues specified in section 153 which the Secretary of State would not consider immaterial. These provisions are intended to alert the Secretary of State to cases where she might wish to intervene on public interest grounds.
353.Subsection (3) provides that the OFT and the CC must pass on to the Secretary of State any representations that they receive about the need for the Secretary of State to specify a new public interest consideration. This provision ensures that the Secretary of State is made aware of any calls for new public interest considerations to be specified in legislation.