Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Bill [HL]

My Lords, Amendment No. 41 seeks to delay the consultation on the merger of the Consumer Council for Water into the new council until 2011. We had a thoughtful debate on this issue in Committee and perhaps I may reiterate some of the key points that were made. One of the fundamental objectives of the Bill is to create a stronger cross-sectoral consumer advocacy body while making consumer representation and redress simpler and more effective. Key to the success of the new body is the retention of sectoral expertise, and this will be equally as important in the water sector as it is for the energy and postal services sectors. The new council will also benefit from the ability to share best practice from different sectors. So, for example, if the Consumer Council for Water is merged with the new council after the consultation in 2008, the council will have the benefit of not only the existing sectoral expertise in the water sector but also experience from other sectors of representing the consumer interest in a price review. The public consultation held by my department this time last year sought views on the best time to consider the question of the inclusion of the water sector in the new arrangements. Some respondents suggested that the consultation should be later than the proposed date of 2008. However, as I said in Committee, many other respondents believed that the water sector should be included from the outset. We considered carefully the representations made to us and took the view at the end of the consultation that we would consult on the inclusion of the water sector in 2008, recognising that the Consumer Council for Water needs time to establish itself and to start tackling the important objectives it has been given before assessing whether these arrangements are the most effective for consumers. I repeat, though, that the commitment is that we would consult on the inclusion of the water sector in 2008. I recognise that there are many important forthcoming issues in the water sector, as mentioned by the noble Baroness, Lady Miller. There is a price review in 2009 and the ongoing work on the water framework directive will require a strong consumer advocate to represent the consumer interest. It is important that we hold the consultation on the merger of the Consumer Council for Water with the new council earlier than 2011 to ensure that the most effective arrangements are in place to represent the consumer interest. I also acknowledge the concerns that the noble Baroness, Lady Miller of Chilthorne Domer, raised in Committee about the important environmental role assigned to the Consumer Council for Water and her belief that that role should not be lost. I believe that our earlier discussion on the new council’s sustainable development objective will have demonstrated to it the importance of that role. I can assure noble Lords that if the Consumer Council for Water is merged with the new council after consultation, we will seek to ensure that the crucial and very best elements of the current body are retained in the new council. I am therefore still not convinced that the amendment represents the best way forward for consumers in the water sector at this time.