Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Bill [Lords]

I have great regard for the right hon. Gentleman, and the clarity with which he made his intervention demonstrates the quality of the service that he gives to the House on a wide range of issues. I congratulate him on that. He will know that my party’s whole stance is opposition to unnecessary regulation and we believe that it is unnecessary to have wholesale regulation of estate agents. As I have said, there is already a considerable volume of legislation that licenses estate agents. The Bill provides a redress scheme and further penalties, and we would like to see how that works out before jumping in with a sledgehammer to try to make it more difficult for youngsters and others to set up as estate agents. As a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, I would like to see estate agents operating at the highest possible level. If new clause 2 is accepted, there would still be rogue estate agents, because some of the bright youngsters, who are bright enough to be rogues, will still pass whatever exams or tests might emerge from the licensing scheme. So a licensing scheme of itself would not stop unethical behaviour. It could set a framework and make it easier to deal with rogue estate agents, but it would not stop them. I would like to set up a framework that encouraged everybody to operate to higher standards. I would like all estate agents be members of the RICS or the National Association of Estate Agents, and put that in their windows. Those bodies could then set standards for continuing professional development, training and so on. Just having a licensing scheme would not stop rogue estate agents. It will be interesting to hear what the Minister thinks, because the Government opposed the new clause in Committee. He also has to answer the question that the right hon. Gentleman poses.