---

Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 1: 1: Clause 18 , page 11, line 6, leave out ““may”” and insert ““must”” The noble Baroness said: My Lords, I return to this issue one more time. I noted that in Committee I was dissatisfied with the Government’s response. Having reread the debate, I consider that it is right to bring this matter back. Put simply, this amendment would ensure that when the National Consumer Council publishes a report to give to the Secretary of State, it will also make a copy available to the public. The noble Lord, Lord Borrie, suggested that would infringe the powers in what is now Clause 17, but was Clause 16 on Report. I direct noble Lords and the Minister to the exact wording of Clause 17, which states: "““The Council may publish any report prepared under this section””." Any report published under that section may not necessarily cover a report prepared for the Secretary of State, as preparing reports for the Secretary of State does not fall within the scope of the NCC’s functions as described in Clause 17. Indeed, and rather ironically, the National Consumer Council’s only statutory duty to report is to the consumer, in Clause 10. Clause 17 does little more than say that the National Consumer Council can publish reports if it wants to, but it has no duty to publish those reports when reporting to the Secretary of State. Indeed, I suspect the real reason behind the Government’s resistance is that the Secretary of State can commission a report far wider in scope than that available to the National Consumer Council to report to consumers. Under Clause 18: "““The Secretary of State may direct the Council to prepare … a report in respect of any matter specified … which relates to consumer matters””." The scope of an average National Consumer Council report to the humble consumer comprises, "““information about consumer matters, information about the views of consumers on consumer matters and information … as may be prescribed by the Secretary of State by order””." The second substantive point is that this amendment does not seek to proscribe the National Consumer Council’s publication. Rather, it seeks to ensure that there is direct communication and thereby accountability of the information going between the National Consumer Council and the Secretary of State. The National Consumer Council is not a government department, and information transferred from it to the Secretary of State should emphatically not be treated as classified, as it is under the Bill as it stands. This is a serious point, and I hope the Minister will be able to take it on board even at this eleventh hour. I beg to move.