Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Bill [HL]

Certainly, the case has been made for looking at a number of the amendments that the noble Baroness, Lady Miller of Chilthorne Domer, has spoken about. It seems to me absurd that the National Consumer Council merely ““may”” appoint staff. The idea that it will not have any staff at all strikes me—and, I hope, my noble friend Lord Whitty—as somewhat extraordinary. Similarly, in relation to its core functions, the idea that the council ““may”” choose whether to represent the consumer seems to me extremely odd. However, I disagree with the noble Baroness on just one point—that is, in connection with Amendments Nos. 9 to 12 concerning regional committees. There, I think that the word should be ““may””. The National Consumer Council may find it useful to appoint regional committees and there may be some justification for having a committee in one or two parts of the county and not in others, and so on. I do not agree with the noble Baroness on the use of the mandatory word ““shall”” for the National Consumer Council, in that example.