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Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Bill [HL]

My Lords, I support the amendments. They make it clear that all issues concerning cut off of supply—whether through a threat of disconnection or a failure somewhere else in the system—will be treated in this way. I simply make the point that I might have made on the previous group of amendments that these are the kind of complaints that would fall to the new National Consumer Council. I know that Energywatch takes the view that there is a wider set of priority complaints over and above those dealing with disconnection or failure of supply. At some point it will need to be made clear what boundaries will be considered by the National Consumer Council, by the normal information function of Consumer Direct or by the companies themselves in the first instance, and, if they fail, by the ombudsman system. It would be helpful if such clarity were placed on the Postwatch side of the equation so that the new structures and consumers can be clear where each form of complaint will in future fall. On Question, amendment agreed to.