---

Confident Consumers

In a few moments I shall give some good news about citizens advice bureaux. First, however, I have good news about the energy sector. Anticipating what would be done by other sectors, the energy regulator, Ofgem, has asked energy suppliers to appoint an ombudsman on billing complaints by July, and I know that the sector is working hard to achieve that. It must be borne in mind that existing consumer bodies such as Energywatch cannot—I repeat, cannot—decide on complaints or enforce redress for consumers. Ombudsman decisions are binding on companies but not on consumers, who can pursue their claims through other means if they wish. Ombudsman schemes are free to consumers: the companies pay the costs. Our plans were subject to consultation earlier this year. We expect to announce the outcome of that consultation, and the details of how we intend to implement our proposals, in July. We will need primary legislation, and if that is passed, it may be possible to introduce the first changes towards the end of 2007. When I know more, I shall write to hon. Members. As I said earlier, we have worked hard to establish better protection for consumers. Following the recent introduction of the Consumer Credit Act 2006, millions will enjoy greater protections when borrowing money. More than 74 million credit cards were issued at the end of 2004—the hon. Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant) probably owns half of them—and about 50 per cent. of households have at least one credit agreement. The new Act constitutes the biggest overhaul of credit legislation since 1974 in relation to both rights and redress. It also changes the licensing of consumer credit businesses, and introduces new powers to drive undesirable elements out of the market. We shall implement the new Act in stages over the next two years. Consumers will then be able to take complaints about lenders to the financial ombudsman service, challenge unfair credit agreements in court and receive more information about the state of their accounts, which will help them to identify potential problems before it is too late.