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Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Bill [HL]

I shall speak to Amendment No. 45, which relates to the research function, and draw the Committee’s attention to the importance of the research work of Postwatch. Its website states that it represents, "““the interests of the disabled or chronically sick, pensioners, people on low incomes and those who live in rural areas””." It takes up all manner of problems, from incorrect advice given at post offices to lost letters. It gets involved in local issues such as the closure of post offices or problems with delivery rounds. Its research is impressive: no matter is too small for its scrutiny. For example, it conducted surveys on collection tabs on postboxes on three separate occasions. Staff and members visited hundreds of postboxes, each time reporting to Royal Mail whether there was a collection tab at all and whether the information on it was accurate. The result is a much better service for the consumer than would otherwise have been the case. Other surveys include the testing of the accuracy of advice around the UK on posting three different items; needless to say, the advice varied, which they were able to point out. Can we be sure that the new NCC will undertake this basic, unglamorous research, which is so important for those who use the postal services from their homes and rely on them to a huge extent? These are often people who do not own a computer and cannot access websites or send attachments with e-mails. How can we be confident that this research will be continued?