Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Bill [HL]

I rise to speak to AmendmentsNos. 46 and 48 in the names of the noble Baroness, Lady Wilcox, and the noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, and Amendment No. 47, in the names of the noble Baroness, Lady Miller of Chilthorne Domer, and the noble Lord, Lord Razzall. First, on Amendments Nos. 46 and 47, the amendments seek to place a duty on the council to carry out its information function. However, this would remove the flexibility of the council to concentrate on the other core functions in Clauses 7 and 8 if it considers that this will be most effective and beneficial to consumers, given the priorities of the council over the coming year. Amendment No. 48 also seeks to amend the information function of the council. The amendment would limit the carrying out of the function to disseminate information and advice to the council. As drafted, the function permits the council not only to disseminate information but to facilitate the dissemination of information and advice by others, as it will be a strong consumer advocate with cross-sectoral expertise. I consider this to be an important function to assign to the new council, and one that will be beneficial to consumers in terms of the quality of information and advice that may be received from the council and others. For the reasons I have given, I must resist the amendments.