Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Bill [Lords]

The hon. Gentleman’s intervention speaks for itself. I obviously agree with him. I think that 93 per cent. of all postal services are now provided for businesses and only 7 per cent. for others. He is right. The post ends up going through the post boxes of ordinary people who want a decent service and it is important that that service is protected properly and effectively. I am sure that the Minister will try to reassure me on that when he replies. On Energywatch, the NCC rightly says:"““Energy is a lifeline service for consumers; if a problem cannot be quickly rectified the consequences can be very serious.""An essential part of the policy objective behind the Bill is to give companies more responsibility for handling complaints.””" It then makes an important and interesting point when it adds:"““Unless the regulators see complaint handling as central to their role, this overall strategy will fail. Part of the failure of regulation in these sectors is that regulators have not viewed complaints-handling as a priority. If this is to be remedied, regulators should have an obligation to exercise this role.””" The NCC worryingly concludes:"““There is a risk that Consumer Direct, the new NCC and the ombudsman scheme will be overrun with higher-than-expected complaint volumes if this issue is not addressed.””" I said earlier that I support the Bill’s objective. It is sound intellectually, but there is the awkward problem of the interregnum and the changeover period—getting from a very desirable A to the even more desirable B of effectively dealing with complaints. I place the remarks in the context of a concern I have. I said earlier that the most effective protection that the consumer can have is competition and the ability to choose which company or organisation supplies them with services. I actually think that the energy market is becoming less competitive, and that concerns me. We are seeing increasing vertical integration in the hands of a small number of foreign owners in the energy sector. The good work being done by the European Commission to open the European energy market—I welcome it unreservedly, even though it is a little belated—may mean that it starts to cast a rather sceptical eye over the British energy market. It is much more integrated than it used to be, with adverse consequences for competition. There is an independent energy supplier in my constituency and it has provided me with chapter-and-verse explanations of how it finds it difficult to get into the market. It has real concerns about the way in which Ofgem regulates the market. It points out that the failure of the big energy companies to bring in smart metering is a failure of competition in the marketplace. The consumer would be empowered if he or she had smart meters in their home to see exactly what is happening to their energy consumption. If the market were truly competitive, the energy supply companies would be falling over themselves to provide us with that information and so offer us a better service, but they are not doing that. They are actually looking to the Government for handouts to introduce the scheme. It should not be like that. An empowered consumer should have a smart meter. The absence of smart metering is an indication of the declining competitiveness of the energy market. The NCC will face important challenges in dealing with regulation and dealing with complaints from consumers. As we migrate from the current system, in which Energywatch has a big role, to a different system in which the companies will expect to have a bigger role and the ombudsman takes on the difficult cases, there is a risk that consumers’ real concerns could become stranded. The Bill deals with issues relating to disconnection, and rightly so, but many customers face problems with large bills—a point helpfully made by the right hon. Member for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill (Mr. Clarke). I am not convinced that the proposed system will mean in the short term that their problems can be addressed. The three-month delay is the crucial point. It takes a lot of bloody-mindedness to pursue an energy company for three months before one goes to the ombudsman. I have had a run-in with BT over the past few days, and it has driven me to distraction. It takes a lot of bloody-mindedness, and sometimes vulnerable people who need help will not necessarily have the skills and the determination to pursue an issue for three months and then take it to the ombudsman. I am genuinely concerned about that point. One specific concern I have about the new national consumer council is that I understand that it will not have access to information on the nature of the complaints and issues raised with Consumer Direct. That may well curtail its ability to hold organisations, such as energy suppliers and other big organisations, fully to account on their consumer practices. I raised the question of ““Quis custodiet ipsos custodies?”” Who is guarding the guards? What happens if we are unhappy with the NCC? However, there is one organisation that has not featured much in the debate—the Office of Fair Trading, which is an important part of the consumer protection framework. I am experiencing declining confidence in some of the bodies that are out there to help me represent the interests of my constituents. I think, for example, of the parliamentary ombudsman. I do not know what has happened there, but I sense that the organisation is perhaps overrun with complaints because of the maladministration of things such as tax credits. Heavens knows, there are enough such complaints. Perhaps there might be a loss of will to take on the complaints of constituents following the debacle over pensions when the Government eventually dismissed—although the decision has since been overturned by the courts—the ombudsman’s findings. There are also concerns about the way in which the Office of Fair Trading works. I noticed a recent report headlined ““Over-active OFT is going OTT in its hunt for scalps””, and I note that the banking sector has expressed its concern about its regulation. The Sunday Telegraph reports:"““Bank lending is regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) the Banking Ombudsman, the Banking Codes Standards Board and also the courts via individual credit agreements. The BBA””—" the British Bankers Association—"““believes the overlaps leave banks unsure which rules to follow.””" Last year, the OFT announced that it would drop between five and 10 of its current investigations under new criteria designed to reduce its work load. That followed criticism from the National Audit Office about the slow speed of investigations, the way cases are selected and a perceived lack of transparency. Against the backdrop, too, of the consumer concerns that are addressed in the Bill, I thought that the House and the Minister might like to know that the Trade and Industry Committee has decided to launch an inquiry into the OFT to see how effectively it is doing its job. It is a chance for the critics to put up or shut up and for the OFT to prove its case.