Clause 11 - Super-complaints to the OFT
Enterprise Bill
Public Bill Committees, 18 April 2002, 2:30 pm
Miss Melanie Johnson (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of Trade and Industry; Welwyn Hatfield, Labour)
The amendment would make the Secretary of State renew the status of designated consumer bodies on an annual basis. We intend that it should be done only as necessary when we and/or the Office of Fair Trading are worried about a designated body.
I appreciate the points made earlier by hon. Members but to make an annual review a legal requirement would place an unnecessary administrative burden on the Government and consumer bodies and be a bureaucratic addition to the Bill. As the hon. Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Mr. Field) remarked, it could lead to more complaints than necessary as bodies attempt to justify their status. The amendment is unnecessary; we have the powers to withdraw the designation when and if necessary. I hope that hon. Members, having debated the subject and thought about it further may wish to withdraw the amendment. If they do not do so, I shall ask the Committee to oppose it.