Schedule 1 - Schedule A1 to the 1974 Act
Consumer Credit Bill
5:00 pm
Charles Hendry (Shadow Minister, Trade & Industry; Wealden, Conservative)
I thank the Minister for his clarity in setting out those details with regard to tribunals. I shall be grateful if he will respond to a few questions, so that we have a little more information before we decide whether the schedule be agreed to.
First, on panels, paragraph 3(3) states:
''The Lord Chancellor shall also appoint a panel of persons who appear to him to be qualified by experience or otherwise to deal with appeals of the kind that may be made to the Tribunal.''
What sort of qualifications do we think that the Lord Chancellor will look for? It is important to understand what expertise will be expected. Or will those people involved just be old mates from his chambers, as seems to have happened in other cases?
Secondly, in paragraph 5, we read on remuneration and allowances:
''The Lord Chancellor may pay to a person in respect of his service—as the President . . . as a member of the Tribunal, or as a person appointed under paragraph 7(4), such remuneration and allowances as the Lord Chancellor may determine.''
Have we any indication of how much we are considering paying? Will people be taking on what is essentially a full-time job, or will they be performing a role for a day or two a week? I have no sense of how much time is going to be involved for those who take part in the tribunals' and, therefore, whether we will be paying them reasonable salaries or simply reimbursing them for losses of earnings elsewhere. How many members does the Minister envisage being involved in the tribunals? Also under paragraph 14 on costs, has he any sense of the level of cost that may be paid if the OFT is deemed to have acted inappropriately? Elsewhere in the Bill a limit of £50,000 is set. Does he envisage there being a limit for the maximum level of a fine or penalty cost that can be imposed on the OFT when it is deemed to have acted inappropriately?