Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 70: 70: Clause 17, page 10, line 15, leave out ““may”” and insert ““must”” The noble Lord said: I shall speak also to Amendments Nos. 75 and 76 and join the Minister and the noble Baroness, Lady Miller of Chilthorne Domer, in offering our very best wishes for 2007 from these Benches. This group of amendments is intended to probe the role of the Secretary of State in relation to the new NCC. Amendment No. 70 would place an obligation on the Secretary of State to publish any report submitted to him by the council. That is a matter of transparency. Where the NCC is providing reports on various matters, it is appropriate that those reports be made available to the consumer. In fact, I cannot think of a reason why that should not happen, unless there is to be some specific relationship between the NCC and the Secretary of State of which we are unaware that precludes giving information to the public. I should be interested to hear the Minister's reaction to that. Amendment No. 75 takes the issue further by proposing to ensure that where the Secretary of State makes appointments to the NCC under the provisions in Clause 19(2)(d) in relation to co-operation arrangements, he will have a duty to consult those interest groups that will be affected by the appointment. Amendment No. 76 would reinforce Amendment No. 75 by ensuring that where a co-operation arrangement is made, the NCC would provide a memorandum of that appointment no later than six months following the arrangement. This package of amendments is important, and especially so in the context of the Government’s record on the independence, or, rather, lack of it, of non-departmental public bodies. I am sure that Members of the Committee will recall the reports in the media within the past few weeks regarding the make-up of the Big Lottery Fund and the Commission for Equality and Human Rights. Those reports have exposed a worrying precedent, whereby supposedly independent bodies are open to manipulation by government appointments and directions. The NCC is a body about consumers and for consumers. We on these Benches appreciate why the Government would want to bring its achievements closer to the process of government policy making. It is testament to what I might call the ““old”” NCC’s achievements that the Government wish to capitalise on its expertise. These amendments across the board seek to preserve that expertise and the independence that has reinforced it over the past 30 years. I beg to move.