Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Bill [Lords]

I cannot gaze into a crystal ball and give the hon. Gentleman a date for that at present. I apologise; I recognise that it is an important point. The question of regional representation by the new NCC was raised. The Bill allows for the new NCC to establish regional committees, as I am sure the hon. Lady knows, where it believes that that would be beneficial to consumers. The hon. Member for Rochford and Southend, East (James Duddridge) asked us to be clear about the inclusion of other sectors. The Bill covers the energy sector and the postal services sector, and allows for the inclusion of the water sector after consultation. The inclusion of any other sectoral consumer bodies in future would require further consultation and legislation. The hon. Lady asked whether small firms would be represented by the new consumer advocacy body. We propose that the remit of the new NCC will be to represent all consumers, including business consumers. It will be left to the new NCC to determine where and on whom the greatest detriment in each market falls, and therefore on which issues to concentrate its resources. She also asked about redress schemes and the fact that they would consider complaints only after three months. The question was raised also by the Chairman of the Trade and Industry Committee. The terms of each redress scheme, including the time given to companies to resolve complaints before the complaint can be dealt with by the scheme must be approved by the sectoral regulator. Deadlock letters can be issued by companies before three months are up. The current practice of existing schemes is to deal with emergency cases without allowing companies the three months. The hon. Member for Richmond Park asked about the council stepping in if redress schemes were not effective. If I wished to emulate a classic ““Yes Minister”” response, I might say that this is a clear opportunity for the new council to advance the consumer experience by monitoring the effectiveness of redress schemes, but I hope the hon. Lady will be reassured that we expect that to be the case. The hon. Lady and other right hon. and hon. Members also asked about positive licensing. The OFT report on the estate agency market in England and Wales specifically addressed the question whether positive licensing, which could include a fitness test and training or competence requirements, would improve regulation and the estate agency market, and rejected it. The OFT concluded that positive licensing would raise costs and inhibit competition, without delivering the benefits to justify that. However, the OFT found that in the majority of cases in which it took action against an estate agent, the root cause was a lack of integrity and honesty, not a lack of knowledge of the law. The hon. Member for Mid-Worcestershire expressed concerns about the DTI’s website. I have acknowledged that there are problems, which we will deal with. He also raised questions about post office performance and closures, an issue raised by other right hon. and hon. Members. The Bill gives a role to the new NCC to look into post office network restructuring. This replicates the power currently given to Postwatch. The new NCC cross-sectoral body will also be able to bring expertise from other sectors. The hon. Gentleman requested that the new NCC will not have access to information from Consumer Direct. I can reassure him that information about consumer complaints will be a useful source of information on consumer detriment for the new NCC. It is envisaged that the new NCC will establish effective information flows from Consumer Direct and the redress schemes. The hon. Member for Northampton, South (Mr. Binley) asked about the Government’s continuing discussions with professional bodies. I can assure him that that will indeed continue. The response of the consumer watchdog community to the Bill is summed up by this quote from the editor of Property Week, Giles Barrie, who says:"““At last, the Government has acknowledged the damage rogue estates can do to people’s lives, which we have highlighted in our campaign. Good agents have nothing to fear but the bad apples now need to clean up their act fast.””" Charles Smailes, president of the National Association of Estate Agents, says:"““This is clearly a step in the right direction.””" Lord Whitty, chairman of the National Consumer Council, says:"““This is good news for consumers.””" Professor Ed Gallacher, the chair of Energywatch, says:"““We are pleased that we now have a clear set of proposals showing a way forward for consumers.””" The head of campaigns for Which?, Louise Hanson, says:"““We broadly welcome the move and particularly the ability of consumers to access redress when things go wrong.””" The OFT says:"““Extending protection in this way means consumers shopping from home can be confident they are protected from unscrupulous doorstep sellers.””" Citizens Advice says:"““We are very pleased that at long last cooling off rights are to be extended to all purchases made at home””." It occurred to me, perhaps uncharacteristically, to make a tiny partisan point. The report by the economic competitiveness policy group established by the right hon. Member for Witney (Mr. Cameron) suggested abolishing consumer protection for mortgages, pensions, insurance and credit cards, saying:"““In financial services we should allow people to buy and sell products that are not regulated if they have signed to do so.””" I look forward to seeing that in the next manifesto. In summary, the Bill embodies the Government’s commitment to a robust and effective consumer regime that is fair to consumers as well as to business. It creates a new national consumer council—a powerful advocate for consumers—demonstrates our commitment to get rid of rogue estate agents and doorstep traders and gives consumers the rights and redress they deserve. I commend the Bill to the House. Question put and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time.