Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 21: Page 3, line 14, leave out ““before each financial year publish”” and insert ““publish biannually”” The noble Lord said: I shall speak also to Amendments Nos. 26, 42 and 43. These amendments alter the Bill in two respects but seek to achieve a common aim. The arrangements for the merger are in need of clarification. Amendment No. 26 is a probing amendment and, if it were accepted, it would alter the remit of the forward work programme so that only measurable objectives could be included. The amendment is tabled in a spirit of common sense, as unquantifiable elements would do little to provide a forward-looking programme. It seems sensible to plan for work that is possible to define in advance and to leave a margin of time and funding to adapt to unforeseen demands on the National Consumer Council. Can the Minister clarify what he envisages the report will produce and how those who read it will use it? The NCC already has to produce an annual report—the remit of which the Secretary of State has the power to direct—that informs the Government and Parliament of what it has achieved in the year. There is huge scope for the Secretary of State to intervene on the policy side of the NCC, and I shall be interested to hear from the Minister what directions he anticipates the Secretary of State will give to the NCC under Clause 6. Amendments Nos. 42 and 43 go to the heart of our concerns about the proposed merger of Postwatch, Energywatch and the NCC. Noble Lords will know that the watchdog organisations provide a highly technical complaints service. While many companies prove unable to interrogate their own customer services systems, the watchdogs are invaluable in providing insight and resolution on complex complaints matters. Complaints provide the most transparent feedback from the consumer. The NCC will not be a direct service provider, and I wish Consumer Direct every success in that respect. However, it is vital that the NCC maintains its accuracy and standard of research and that it provides insight into complaints. The amendments in this group widen and extend the NCC’s accountability and take its remit in the right direction. The NCC must have enough flexibility in its planning to meet the changing challenges in the consumer world, but its remit must be strong enough to ensure that, in its new position as a non-departmental public body with funding from the taxpayer, it provides the insight and research that will make it, as it is now, a real champion for consumer affairs. I beg to move.