---

Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Bill [HL]

I shall comment on Amendment No. 131. The noble Lord, Lord Lee of Trafford, explained that the £500 penalty laid down is inadequate and that a reference to the OFT could result in a more serious restraint of some sort on the estate agent concerned. However, one effect of the noble Lord’s amendment would be to deprive trading standards officers of their powers to impose a penalty. Trading standards officers are local authority officials with expert local knowledge of their part of the country, and it would be a pity if their role was excluded. I do not support Amendment No. 131 in so far as it excludes trading standards officers. I should declare an interest as a former president of the Trading Standards Institute and a current vice-president.