Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Bill [HL]

Amendment No. 51 would require the council to provide an account of how efficiently its resources were used when carrying out an investigation into any matter. However, I am not convinced that this is required, given that Part 5 of Schedule 1 already sets out the requirements of the council in relation to its accounts. Schedule 1 places a duty on the council to keep proper accounts and to prepare in respect of each financial year a statement of accounts. A copy of this statement must be given to the Secretary of State and to the Comptroller and Auditor-General. The Comptroller and Auditor-General must in turn examine and report on the accounts of the council. That report and a copy of the statement of accounts must be laid before Parliament. I cannot therefore accept the amendment. Amendment No. 52 relates to the general powers of investigation of the council. Clause 10 is not intended to permit the council to investigate individual complaints. It is limited to those complaints that are set out in Clauses 11 and 12. Clause 10 essentially provides the council with another source of information about consumer matters, where it considers that complaint from a consumer has a more general relevance that applies to the market as a whole and therefore to all consumers within that market. For the council to be an effective advocate for consumers across all markets, it is important that it can obtain information about matters that concern consumers the most and result in the greatest consumer detriment. Clause 10 represents one of the ways in which the council will be able to obtain such information. For the reasons given, I must resist the amendments.