Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Bill [HL]

What would happen if the council behaved in a manner which was unsatisfactory to the Government in the areas that we have discussed? Would we need new legislation to tidy this up? No one seems to be opposed to what is being suggested by those who advocate the word ““shall””. By the same token, if ““shall”” is not in the Bill, new legislation will be needed to clear up any mental aberrations that my noble friend Lord Whitty’s successor might commit. As I recall, the last consumer credit legislation was introduced in 1974, so we get a crack at this about every 25 to 30 years. We are dealing with legislation which will probably exist for some time, so we want to get it right first time. Would it not be better for it to be tightly worded, rather than loosely—or perhaps, as those on the Conservative Benches would say, ““sloppily””—worded, as it seems to be now?