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Welfare Reform Bill

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Kirkwood, has raised the question of appeals should someone be rejected for a loan by an external provider. A similar amendment was spoken to in Committee on 30 June, a debate introduced by the noble Baroness, Lady Thomas. That debate served as a hook for a rather more general debate on the role of external providers. We learnt some useful information from the Minister, including the fact that it will be made clear in the invitation to tender documentation that any external provider of social loans must have a complaints procedure. That would be regulated by the FSA and there would also be the option of complaining to the Financial Ombudsman Service. The noble Baroness, Lady Thomas, pointed out that external providers would need to be able to provide, as a flipside to a complaints procedure, the capacity to give detailed advice about the benefit system in the first place. The issue of how to complain is a pertinent one. It would be ideal if, from the outset, we could ensure that we have adequate information in place, as that will help to cut down the number of complaints. In Committee, my noble friend Lord Taylor of Holbeach expressed sympathy for the Liberal Democrats’ amendment. It does not seem unreasonable to have thought carefully in advance about how to deal with problems which will inevitably arise. Having the facility to make a complaint is different from having the right to appeal. Can the Government furnish us with more details of the complaints procedure that, in negotiations, they will seek from external providers?