Consumer Credit Bill

My Lords, from these Benches, we too welcome this amendment. At Second Reading and the various stages of this Bill, we have had a number of debates on the inter-relationship between a right or an obligation to lend responsibly, the powers of the OFT and what should be in the Bill. What the Government have come forward with is a compromise between the various views that have been expressed and I welcome the fact that they have been prepared to do that. There still remains a concern in two areas. First, there is undoubtedly concern among the providers of credit that the lack of definition on the face of the Bill as to what constitutes responsible lending will enable the OFT to define its own powers and then enforce them without consultation. That is one reason why a number of us have argued that there should be more definition in the Bill because, once it leaves your Lordships’ House, we are completely in the hands of the OFT in relation to the definitions of its powers and irresponsible lending. When the Minister replies, I would welcome a comment from him on whether he has any information on the consultation processes that the OFT will go through in guiding the industry towards avoiding unnecessary mistakes by providers of credit. That leads to the second area, which touches on the industry’s concerns that the timetable published by the Minister’s department contains a number of areas of secondary legislation, guidance and consultation. Will the Government bear in mind that instituting the necessary systems—particularly IT systems—to reflect the change in the law will often take, say, 18 months from regulatory certainty to full implementation? In their timetable for this, will the Government, first, press the OFT to take that into account, and, secondly, take it into account themselves? Having said that, we obviously welcome the amendment as progress. It has been a pleasurable Bill in which to participate, as the Minister and the noble Baroness, Lady Miller of Hendon, will undoubtedly agree. It is always a pleasure to do business with the noble Baroness, particularly when the Minister can compromise with her.