Clause 47 - POWER OF OFT TO REQUIRE ACCESS TO PREMISES
Consumer Credit Bill
10:00 am
Mr Gerry Sutcliffe (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Employment Relations, Competition and Consumers), Department of Trade and Industry; Bradford South, Labour)
I appreciate the spirit in which the hon. Gentleman asks those questions. As I have said, the OFT already has many powers under the Enterprise Act 2002, but I can reassure the Committee that the Bill contains the appropriate checks and balances required to regulate the behaviour of OFT officers and those acting on the OFT's behalf.
First, under clause 50, anything done by an enforcement officer acting on behalf of the OFT will be treated as if it had been done by an officer of the OFT. Secondly, a licensee would have grounds for appeal in the highly and, I hope, unlikely event of an officer behaving in anything other than a reasonable and professional manner. A licensee might be able to appeal against a decision if the OFT sought to use evidence in an unreasonable and unprofessional manner. Thirdly, officers of the OFT, like all public servants, are bound to act reasonably and professionally at all times. If they do not, they can be reported to the parliamentary ombudsman. Administrative law imposes a general duty on public bodies to act reasonably.
In addition to those checks and balances, I would like to provide further reassurance to hon. Members. The OFT has similar powers of access to premises under cartel investigations and, despite having no specific legislative duty, OFT officers have behaved responsibly and professionally when conducting visits for these investigations. There is no reason to believe that OFT officers will act any differently when conducting licensing visits. Therefore, together with all the checks and balances already in place, the amendment—which I accept is a probing amendment—is unnecessary.
It is important for the OFT to have those powers. I was asked why we are giving people the power to enter business premises at all. In some cases fitness can be assessed most effectively and efficiently by an enforcement officer visiting the premises of a licensee and gaining access. The powers already exist under the Enterprise Act 2002, and we are looking into the licensing regime. Safeguards are in place—a variety of checks and balances already exist.
Hon. Members have put on record their concerns, which I am sure the OFT will take into consideration in how it operates. I hope that those assurances have reassured the hon. Gentleman, and I ask him to withdraw his amendment.