Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Bill [Lords]

I had the pleasure of serving on the Public Bill Committee, which did a very good job. I welcome my right hon. Friend the Minister to his new duties. He has done an excellent job in every ministerial post that he has had and I know that he will add to his new role responsibilities for inter-faith matters, on which I am sure he will also do a fine job. I was influenced to become a member of the Committee because of the interest that I had expressed in the House, not least on Second Reading, on what I thought was happening in the energy industry. I felt then and still feel that consumers are entitled to a much louder voice than hitherto. I accept that now that the Bill has been in Committee and on Report consumers can be assured that it will go a long way towards allowing their views to be expressed, their concerns articulated and often—frankly speaking—their anger to be expressed as well. I had in mind on Second Reading what I regarded as the disgraceful behaviour of the energy companies, especially the gas and electricity ones, who steadfastly refused to pass on to consumers, especially vulnerable consumers, the reductions in wholesale prices, even though increases were passed on with little delay. The hon. Member for Richmond Park (Susan Kramer) made the point several times in Committee that it was not surprising that the problems facing vulnerable consumers should be so much on our minds, and our aim has always been to ensure that complaints receive an urgent and positive response. In that regard, I pay special tribute to Energywatch, which has been doing an outstanding job. I hope that the Minister will be able to assure the House that its contribution and expertise will be copied by the new NCC. Some people face remarkable difficulties with fuel poverty. Energywatch was able to deal with 86 per cent. of the complaints that it received in 35 days, whereas the department of the energy supply ombudsman took the view that 95 per cent. of complaints did not come under his terms of reference. We want complaints to be dealt with and registered promptly, and responses to them must recognise the needs of those impoverished and vulnerable people who are very much in our minds. In Committee, I expressed my doubts as to whether suppliers should hold information arising from complaints, and I noted that the expected accountability was not in place. My right hon. Friend the Member for Makerfield (Mr. McCartney) used to be the Minister for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs, and he did a fine job of piloting the Bill through the Committee. He wrote to me about these matters, as follows:"““I explained during the debate that I believe that the provision you sought—the desirability of which does not appear to be disputed on any side—is already included in the Bill as currently drafted. Schedule 5 inserts new sections into each of the Gas Act 1986, the Electricity Act 1989, and the Postal Services Act 2000. These require OFGEM and Postcomm respectively to collect data regarding compliance with the complaint handling standards prescribed under clause 43 of the Bill.””" I welcome that clarification, which I think will satisfy those who worried that the Bill placed more emphasis on redress than on the handling of complaints. This is an extremely important Bill. Some of my constituents live in high flats and believe that, in very cold winters, they have not been getting the heating that they are entitled to expect. They felt that their complaints were not being taken seriously and that most energy companies were demonstrating a greed that they found unacceptable. They very much welcome the accountability and transparency that the Bill will bring to these matters. I am not the only Lanarkshire MP to be critical of the approach adopted by the energy companies, although they have made some progress since debates began on the Bill. I hope that others who have fought on these matters will share my belief that the message that the Bill sends out is that Parliament accepts that it has responsibilities to consumers. They are responsibilities that we intend to discharge. We have set in the Bill a mechanism by which we can oversee exactly what is taking place. It will make it as easy as possible to gain access to the people who can deal with complaints. In that spirit, I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Minister and the Government on introducing the Bill and wish them all the success that my constituents would expect.