House of Commons Amendments

Session 2013 - 14
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

109

House of Commons

Tuesday 11 March 2014

Public Bill Committee

New Amendments handed in are marked thus

Amendments which will comply with the required notice period at their next appearance

Consumer Rights Bill

Note

The Amendments have been arranged in accordance with the Order of the

Committee [11 February 2014].

Jenny Willott

76

Schedule  5,  page  65,  line  13,  after ‘under’, insert ‘—(a)’.

Member’s explanatory statement

This amendment and amendments 77 to 86 reflect the fact that enforcement action is sometimes

taken under legislation under which the enforcer’s legislation is made, not under the enforcer’s

legislation itself. For example, a breach of safety regulations under the Consumer Protection Act

1987 is an offence under that Act not the regulations.

Jenny Willott

77

Schedule  5,  page  65,  line  14,  at end insert ‘, or

(b)
legislation under which the enforcer’s legislation is made.’.

Member’s explanatory statement

The explanatory statement for amendment 76 also applies to this amendment.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

104

Schedule  5,  page  74,  line  37,  leave out sub-paragraphs (3) to (5).’.

Public Bill Committee: 11 March 2014
110

Consumer Rights Bill, continued

Jenny Willott

78

Schedule  5,  page  84,  line  9,  leave out ‘under that legislation’ and insert ‘by the

enforcer’.

Member’s explanatory statement

The explanatory statement for amendment 76 also applies to this amendment.

Jenny Willott

79

Schedule  5,  page  84,  line  10,  leave out ‘under the enforcer’s legislation’ and insert

‘by the enforcer’.

Member’s explanatory statement

The explanatory statement for amendment 76 also applies to this amendment.

Jenny Willott

80

Schedule  5,  page  87,  line  7,  after ‘enforce’, insert—

‘(ca)
legislation under which legislation mentioned in paragraph (c) is made,’.

Member’s explanatory statement

The explanatory statement for amendment 76 also applies to this amendment.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

103

Schedule  5,  page  87,  line  28,  at end insert—

‘(45A)
The Secretary of State shall within three months of Royal Assent of this Act

produce a report on the effect of an area enforcer, in order to protect

consumers, to—

(a)
issue enforcement orders, as set out in Part 8 of the Enterprise Act

2002, for traders who persistently cause detriment within a local area;

and;

(b)
enable the disclosure to consumers and other interested parties without

legal liability of complaints they have received regarding traders

when—

(i)
a consumer has consented to their contact details and the

nature of their complaint being shared with others who wish

to raise concerns about a trader; and

(ii)
the area enforcer considers the behaviour of the trader to have

breached consumer protection regulations and it is in the

public interest for their conduct to be known.’.

Jenny Willott

81

Schedule  5,  page  87,  line  36,  at end insert—

‘(aa)
an offence under legislation under which legislation within paragraph (a)

is made,’.

Member’s explanatory statement

The explanatory statement for amendment 76 also applies to this amendment.

Jenny Willott

82

Schedule  5,  page  87,  line  42,  after ‘(a)’, insert ‘, (aa)’.

Member’s explanatory statement

The explanatory statement for amendment 76 also applies to this amendment.

Public Bill Committee: 11 March 2014
111

Consumer Rights Bill, continued

Jenny Willott

83

Schedule  5,  page  88,  line  7,  at end insert—

‘(aa)
an offence under legislation under which legislation within paragraph (a)

is made,’.

Member’s explanatory statement

The explanatory statement for amendment 76 also applies to this amendment.

Jenny Willott

84

Schedule  5,  page  88,  line  9,  after ‘(a)’, insert ‘ or (aa)’.

Member’s explanatory statement

The explanatory statement for amendment 76 also applies to this amendment.

Jenny Willott

85

Schedule  5,  page  88,  line  17,  at end insert—

‘(aa)
an offence under legislation under which legislation within paragraph (a)

is made,’.

Member’s explanatory statement

The explanatory statement for amendment 76 also applies to this amendment.

Jenny Willott

86

Schedule  5,  page  88,  line  19,  after ‘(a)’, insert ‘ or (aa)’.

Member’s explanatory statement

The explanatory statement for amendment 76 also applies to this amendment.

Jenny Willott

87

Schedule  6,  page  92,  line  17,  at end insert—

‘44A
In section 44(4) (service of documents)—

(a)
omit “28(2) or”, and

(b)
omit “purchased or” in each place.’.

Member’s explanatory statement

This amendment makes a consequential amendment to section 44(4) of the Consumer Protection

Act 1987 which is necessary following the repeal of section 28 of that Act by the Bill.

Jenny Willott

88

Schedule  6,  page  95,  line  5,  leave out ‘(h),’.

Member’s explanatory statement

This amendment modifies the amendments to the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 following

the proposal to retain specific powers within section 29(4) of the Consumer Protection Act 1987

and regulation 22(4) of the General Product Safety Regulations 2005. Those specific powers will

now be carved out of the repeals in the 2001 Act.

Jenny Willott

89

Schedule  6,  page  95,  line  5,  leave out ‘(o),’.

Public Bill Committee: 11 March 2014
112

Consumer Rights Bill, continued

Member’s explanatory statement

The explanatory statement for amendment 88 also applies to this amendment.

Jenny Willott

90

Schedule  6,  page  95,  line  5,  at end insert—

‘(aa)
in paragraph (h) for “29” substitute “29(4)”,

(ab)
in paragraph (o) for “22” substitute “22(4)”,’.

Member’s explanatory statement

The explanatory statement for amendment 88 also applies to this amendment.

Jenny Willott

91

Schedule  6,  page  95,  line  34,  leave out paragraph (g).

Member’s explanatory statement

The explanatory statement for amendment 88 also applies to this amendment.

Jenny Willott

92

Schedule  6,  page  95,  line  36,  leave out ‘first and second paragraphs’ and insert

‘first paragraph’.

Member’s explanatory statement

The explanatory statement for amendment 88 also applies to this amendment.

Jenny Willott

93

Schedule  6,  page  95,  line  40,  at end insert—

  ‘(2A)
In paragraph 45 for “29(4), (5) and (6)” substitute “29(4)”.

    (2B)
In the second paragraph 73G for “22(4) to (6)” substitute “22(4)”.’.

Member’s explanatory statement

The explanatory statement for amendment 88 also applies to this amendment.

Jenny Willott

94

Schedule  6,  page  96,  line  2,  leave out ‘3, 4A,’.

Member’s explanatory statement

The explanatory statement for amendment 88 also applies to this amendment.

Jenny Willott

95

Schedule  6,  page  96,  line  2,  leave out ‘8, 9A,’.

Member’s explanatory statement

The explanatory statement for amendment 88 also applies to this amendment.

Jenny Willott

96

Schedule  6,  page  96,  line  2,  at end insert—

  ‘(2A)
In paragraph 3 for “29” in each place substitute “29(4)”.

    (2B)
In paragraph 4A—

(a)
for “23” substitute “22(4)”, and

(b)
for “22” substitute “22(4)”.

    (2C)
In paragraph 8 for “29” in each place substitute “29(4)”.

Public Bill Committee: 11 March 2014
113

Consumer Rights Bill, continued

    (2D)
In paragraph 9A—

(a)
for the first “22” substitute “22(4)”, and

(b)
for “products under regulations 22 of those Regulations.” substitute

“those items, as it applies to the seizure and detention of products

under regulation 22(4) of those Regulations.”’.

Member’s explanatory statement

The explanatory statement for amendment 88 also applies to this amendment. This amendment also

makes changes to remedy pre-existing errors in paragraphs 4A and 9A of Schedule 2 to the Crim

inal Justice and Police Act 2001

Jenny Willott

97

Schedule  6,  page  97,  line  11,  at end insert—

‘Fireworks Act 2003 (c. 22)

79A(1)
Section 12 of the Fireworks Act 2003 (enforcement) is amended as follows.

      (2)
In subsection (2)—

(a)
omit paragraph (a), and

(b)
in paragraph (b), for “29(1) to (5), (6)(a) and (7)” substitute “29(4) and

(7)”.

      (3)
After subsection (2) insert—

“(2A)
For the investigatory powers available to a local weights and measures

authority for the purposes of the duty to enforce imposed by virtue of

subsection (1) (in addition to the powers in Part 4 of the Consumer

Protection Act 1987), see Schedule 5 to the Consumer Rights Act

2014.”’.

Member’s explanatory statement

This amendment introduces consequential amendments to the Fireworks Act 2003 so as to remove

references within the 2003 Act to those parts of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 which are to be

repealed and instead insert a reference to the generic set of investigatory powers contained within

the Bill.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

106

Clause  79,  page  42,  line  12,  at end insert—

‘(1A)
Within three months of Royal Assent of this Act, the Secretary of State shall set

out guidance on requiring all statutory regulators to provide—

(a)
formal representation for consumers on all governance bodies;

(b)
an annual competition and consumer rights health check within their

industry which has been approved by the Consumer Association; and

(c)
periodic consideration of whether there is a need for independent advice,

free at the point of delivery, to ensure consumers’ rights are protected, in

which case the Secretary of State shall review the case for the

introduction of levies to support this provision.’.

Public Bill Committee: 11 March 2014
114

Consumer Rights Bill, continued

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

105

Clause  79,  page  42,  line  14,  at end insert—

‘(3)
For the purposes of the enhanced consumer measures set out in Schedule 7 the

Secretary of State shall publish a review of the powers of Trading Standards

Officers to consider—

(a)
the number of enforcement actions by Trading Standards taken under the

enhanced consumer protections set out in this Act;

(b)
any additional operational costs to Trading Standards Services associated

with the new powers and procedures under sections 77 and 79 of this Act;

and

(c)
the establishment of a statutory minimum standard for all officers

carrying out Trading Standards functions in any local authority and the

role of a competent body to set, test against, apply and monitor those

standards.’.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

107

Clause  79,  page  42,  line  14,  at end insert—

‘(3)
The Secretary of State shall publish an annual assessment of the cumulative

impact of public policy in the area of consumer rights on household bills and on

affordability, with particular regard for low income households.’.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

108

Clause  79,  page  42,  line  14,  at end insert—

‘(3)
Within three months of Royal Assent of this Act the Government will publish a

report detailing how it will ensure better outcomes for consumers of public

services and more efficient decision-making processes;

(4)
For the purposes of this Act a public service is any provided to the consumer

directly by a Government department, or local or public authority, or a trader

acting on behalf of these organisations;

(5)
For the purposes of this Act a person shall be a consumer of public services when

they enter any agreement, contract, contract notice or proposed contract for

receiving a service which the individual has a direct role in commissioning;

(6)
A report under subsection (3) will consider—

(a)
how each public service provider will ensure a formalised approach to

ensure independent advocacy is available for consumers at an early stage

in the decision-making process for the provision of public services;

(b)
the nature of an independent advocate to participate in this process and

the definition of independence including how this could be supported by

the conduct of any service provider;

(c)
the effect of a breach in a consumer’s statutory rights as set out by this

legislation when a direct commissioning contract is in place;

(d)
what formal status independent advice notice issued will have in relation

to local authority decision-making, especially in instances where a public

service continues to act contrary to such information and formal legal

redress is sought;

(e)
the role of the public sector ombudsman services in overseeing any such

approach; and

Public Bill Committee: 11 March 2014
115

Consumer Rights Bill, continued

(f)
how a public service provider will report on their formalised approach.’.

Jenny Willott

111

Schedule  7,  page  102,  line  1,  leave out ‘a private designated’ and insert ‘an’.

Member’s explanatory statement

This amendment corrects an error in new 219C(5) of the Enterprise Act 2002. The Act does not

use the term “private designated enforcer” and it is sufficient in the context to refer to “an enforc

er”.

Jenny Willott

112

Schedule  7,  page  102,  line  31,  at end insert—

‘(8A)
Subsection (8B) applies if—

(a)
an enforcer exercises a function in relation to a person by virtue of

subsection (1) or (2),

(b)
that function is a relevant function for the purposes of Part 2 (co-

ordination of regulatory enforcement) of the Regulatory Enforcement

and Sanctions Act 2008, and

(c)
a primary authority (within the meaning of that Part) has given advice or

guidance under section 27(1) of that Act—

(i)
to that person in relation to that function, or

(ii)
to other local authorities (within the meaning of that Part) with

that function as to how they should exercise it in relation to that

person.

(8B)
The enforcer must, in exercising the function in relation to that person, act

consistently with that advice or guidance.’.

Member’s explanatory statement

This amendment introduces a duty on private designated enforcers to act consistently with advice

or guidance given by a primary authority when seeking an enforcement order or undertaking that

includes enhanced consumer measures.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

109

Clause  80,  page  42,  line  16,  at end insert—

‘(1A)
A year after the commencement of this section, the Secretary of State will review

the powers set out in Schedule 8 and report to Parliament on—

(a)
the number of private actions commenced under this power;

(b)
the redress provided to consumers under these private actions; and

(c)
the scope and potential effect of expanding these private actions powers

to all areas of consumer protection law.’.



© Parliamentary copyright	Revised 11 March 2014