Clause 16
Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Bill
9:15 am
Jim Fitzpatrick (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of Trade and Industry; Poplar and Canning Town, Labour)
Clause 16 provides a specific power for the new council to investigate any matter relating to the number and location of public post offices in the United Kingdom. That specific function recognises the importance of the post office network, and the valuable work undertaken by Postwatch on the issue. It mirrors the provisions in the Postal Services Act 2000. There is no change to, or weakening of, the powers to protect consumer interest.
Maintaining the existing sectoral expertise in the postal services sector is vital to the success of the new body, and we recognise the importance of that in a sector that has only recently been opened up to competition. Having a strong consumer advocate in the postal services sector, and maintaining the sectoral expertise that Postwatch has built up and which the new council will inherit are vital to the Government's proposals for a sustainable post office network.
As a result of the clause, the new council will continue the role of Postwatch in representing the views of consumers in the Post Office restructuring programme, offering consumers a stronger voice on that and similar issues that arise in other sectors. We envisage that the new arrangements will be in place within a year of the Bill receiving Royal Assent.
The Minister for Trade, my right hon. Friend the Member for Makerfield (Mr. McCartney) referred yesterday to the project that is under way to plan the implementation of this important Bill. He assured the hon. Members for Hertford and Stortford and for Richmond Park that we would keep them briefed on the work as it progresses.
Postwatch is fully engaged in early planning for implementation of the new arrangements. Both the chair and chief executive attend the two groups that have been set up to oversee implementation. Both groups meet monthly, and also include representatives from Energywatch, the National Consumer Council and the Office of Fair Trading. The groups are tasked with ensuring that consumer interest continues to be effectively represented both during the transition to the new arrangements, and once the new arrangements are in place. Their responsibilities include work on the timetable for implementation.
Other work undertaken by the groups so far includes: the mapping of existing work; the transferral of resources and best practice to the new council as well as additional work that the new council could usefully undertake; the identification of tasks required to close down Energywatch, Postwatch and the National Consumer Council; and early planning to extend the Consumer Direct service to the energy and postal services sectors.
We are taking great care to ensure that the work being undertaken by Postwatch on Post Office network restructuring will not be disrupted during the transition period. Additional staff and other resources are being allocated to Postwatch to assist them with the programme, and these resources will be carried forward into the new arrangements for the duration of that work.
We recognise the importance that Postwatch places on the work of its regional committees, and the role they will play in the assessment of the Post Office network restructuring programme. The Bill makes specific provision to enable the new council to establish regional committees when it considers them to be beneficial to consumers. That is a matter for the new council to determine, but as I have said, we are working with the existing consumer bodies to plan for the implementation of the new arrangements. I move that this clause stand part of the Bill.