Office of Public Sector Information
55.Section 13 provides that a gas consumer may complain to the Council where the consumer’s premises are disconnected or cut off by a gas transporter or gas supplier (or such action is threatened); where the gas transporter or supplier refuses to reconnect the consumer’s premises; or where there is a failure of a prepayment system. Similarly, an electricity consumer may complain to the Council where his premises are disconnected or threatened with disconnection by an electricity distributor, supplier or transmission licence holder; where the supplier etc refuses to reconnect the consumer’s premises; or where there is a failure of a prepayment system. The Council must investigate any complaint made by the consumer, and must, if it thinks it appropriate, provide advice to the consumer or make representations to the supplier, distributor, transporter or transmission licence holder on behalf of the consumer.
56.The Council may refuse to investigate a complaint in certain circumstances (specified in subsections (4) and (5)).
57.Section 14 requires the Council to refer a complaint which it has the power to investigate under section 11(1)(a) (complaints which raise general issues or affect consumers generally) or section 12 (vulnerable consumers) or the duty to investigate under section 13 (complaints about disconnections) to the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority if it considers that the Authority’s enforcement powers may be exercisable in relation to the complaint. Having referred a complaint to the Authority, the Council is not obliged to investigate further until the Authority has had a reasonable opportunity to exercise its enforcement functions (subsection (3)). The Council is also obliged to inform a complainant if it considers that a complaint which has been referred to it relates to a matter which can be referred to the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority under the Gas Act 1986 (c.44) or the Electricity Act 1989 (c.29) (subsection (4)).
58.Section 15 requires the Council to refer a complaint which it has the power to investigate under section 11(1)(a) (complaints which raise general issues or affect consumers generally) or section 12 (complaints by vulnerable consumers) to the Postal Services Commission in certain circumstances, including where the Council considers that the complaint relates to the contravention of a licence condition.
59.Section 16 enables the Council to investigate any matter relating to the number and location of public post offices in any part of the United Kingdom.
60.Section 17 enables the Council to prepare and publish reports on any matter within the scope of its functions.
61.Section 18 enables the Secretary of State to direct the Council to prepare a report in respect of any matter that relates to consumer matters. The Secretary of State may publish these reports.
62.Section 19(1) enables the Council to issue advice or guidance to improve standards of service to consumers and promote best practice in relation to complaint handling, or on any other matters related to the interest of consumers.
63.Subsection (2) enables the Council to publish advice and information about consumer matters if it thinks publication will promote the interests of consumers.
64.Section 20 requires the Council to enter into co-operation arrangements with various bodies (“designated bodies”). The designated bodies are the OFT, the Financial Services Consumer Panel, the OFCOM Consumer Panel and any other person designated by the Secretary of State by order. Subsection (3) sets out the matters which such arrangements should deal with. These agreements are intended to enable the Council and the designated regulators to work together in exercising their functions in relation to the provision of advice or information to consumers in areas where these functions overlap.
65.Subsections (4) to (6) provide that memoranda setting out each co-operation arrangement and any revisions must be sent to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State must lay any memoranda detailing the cooperation arrangement received by him before Parliament (subsection (7)).
66.In addition to these cooperation arrangements, sections 39 and 40 and Schedule 1 paragraph 1(4) make provision about cross-appointments between the Council and the OFCOM Consumer Panel and the Financial Services Consumer Panel. This is also to ensure that the Panels and the Council work closely together.
67.Section 21 allows the Council to co-operate with or give assistance to any person if it thinks that doing so would contribute towards carrying out its own functions.
68.Section 22 enables the Council to undertake other activities in addition to the functions described above. In particular, it has the power to give advice or assistance to others, including research or other services, in respect of any matters in which the Council has skill, experience or expertise. It may charge for services provided under this section. This section is intended to enable the Council to undertake paid work or other work for other persons (for instance research projects).
69.The Council is also given the power to establish a company or, subject to the consent of the Secretary of State, to acquire an interest in one to exercise its functions under this section (subsections (4) and (5)). The Secretary of State must publish the reasons for any consent granted to the Council for this purpose.
70.Section 23 makes provision for the Council to do whatever it sees fit, apart from borrowing money, in the interests of performing its functions. However, the Council may not acquire or dispose of interests in land without approval from the Secretary of State except under a transfer of property scheme provided for in section 35. Section 35 gives the Secretary of State the power, in winding up the Gas and Electricity and Postal Services Consumer Councils, the existing National Consumer Council and the Consumer Council for Water, to transfer their property to the Council or another person.
71.Subsections (1) to (5) enable the Council to serve a notice on a person listed in subsection (3) requiring the person to provide it with information. The listed persons are the OFT, a “designated regulator”, any person who supplies goods or services in the course of business and any person or description of person specified by the Secretary of State. “Designated regulator” means the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority, the Postal Services Commission, the Water Services Regulation Authority and any other person prescribed by the Secretary of State (see subsection (9)). The Council may only ask for information that it needs for the purpose of exercising its functions (subsection (2)). In making a request for information, the Council must consider the desirability of minimising the costs or any other detriment the request might cause for the person on whom the notice is served (subsection (5)).
72.If the Council requests information from the OFT or a designated regulator and it fails to provide the information requested, the Council may require it to give notice of its reasons for failing to provide the information requested (subsection (6)). The Council may publish that notice.
73.Section 25 applies where a regulated provider in the electricity, gas, postal services or water sectors fails to comply with a notice served by the Council under section 24. The Council may refer the matter to a person prescribed by the Secretary of State, or to the sectoral regulator if no person has been prescribed by the Secretary of State (in both cases the “designated investigator”). The designated investigator must consider any representations made by the Council or by the regulated provider and must determine whether the provider was entitled to refuse to provide the information requested by the Council (subsection (4)). If the designated investigator determines that the provider was not entitled to refuse, then it must direct the provider to provide the information. Such directions are enforceable by the sectoral regulator (see subsections (7), (8) and Schedule 2).
74.Section 26 applies where a supplier of goods and services (or a person to whom section 26 applies by virtue of a provision made under section 24(7)(b)) refuses to comply with a notice under section 24 requiring information to be provided to the Council. The Council may apply to the court for an order requiring the person served with the notice to comply with it. This does not apply where the procedure in section 25 applies in relation to the notice.
75.Section 27 allows the OFT, a designated regulator (as defined by section 24(9)) or a person specified by the Secretary of State, to require information from the Council if the information is required for the purpose of exercising its functions. In doing so, they must consider the impact (including the cost) that complying with the requirement will have on the Council.
76.Subsections (6) and (7) mean that, if the Council fails to provide the information, it must give the person who requested the information a notice setting out the reasons for this failure, and the person requesting the information may publish the notice of reasons given by the Council.
77.Section 28 enables the Secretary of State to prescribe exemptions from the requirements to provide information to the Council by virtue of section 24. The power to prescribe exemptions also applies to the Council’s duty under section 27 to provide information on request to the OFT, designated regulators, and persons specified by the Secretary of State by order.
78.Subsection (2) means that no person may be required under section 24 or 27, or under a court order under section 26, to provide any information or document which he could not be compelled to provide in legal proceedings. This is to ensure that the information gathering powers under the Act do not apply to information that is subject to legal professional privilege.
79.Section 29(1) brings the Act within the general regime in Part 9 of the Enterprise Act 2002 (c. 40) (“the 2002 Act”) that protects information from improper disclosure and use. It does this by adding the Act to the list in Schedule 14 to the 2002 Act. The effect of this is that information which the Council obtains under the Act will be restricted, and it will be an offence to disclose information about the business of a company or the affairs of an individual unless Part 9 of the 2002 Act permits it.
80.Subsection (2) adds the Act to Schedule 15 to the 2002 Act. The effect of this is that information which is restricted under the 2002 Act and obtained under legislation other than the Act can be disclosed to the Council to help it carry out its functions under the Act.
81.Subsection (3) makes information obtained by the Council under powers in legislation relating to the gas, electricity and postal services sectors subject to the disclosure regime in the 2002 Act. Without these provisions, the information would be subject to the regime in the Utilities Act 2000 (c. 27) or the Postal Services Act 2000 (c.26).
82.Subsection (4) states that the 2002 Act restrictions do not apply when the Council makes information available or publishes it under specified powers in the Act, the Gas Act 1986 (c.44) and the Electricity Act 1989 (c.29). In these cases subsection (5) requires the Council to consult the individual or business affected first; and subsection (6) requires the Council in these cases also to have regard to the considerations in section 244 of the 2002 Act before disclosing or publishing it. These requirements do not apply to the Council publishing information about complaint handling under section 45 of the Act or publication of statistical information about the performance of gas and electricity suppliers.
83.Subsection (1) abolishes energywatch.
84.Subsection (2) abolishes Postwatch.
85.Subsection (3) transfers the functions of energywatch and Postwatch to the Council.
86.Subsection (4) replaces a number of references to energywatch and Postwatch in existing legislation with references to the Council established under the Act. The new Council established by the Act will take over certain statutory functions of the existing consumer bodies under the Gas Act 1986 (c.44), Electricity Act 1989 (c.29), Utilities Act 2000 (c.27) and Postal Services Act 2000 (c.26). In particular, there are a number of statutory requirements to consult energywatch and Postwatch on certain issues. In future, those requirements will relate instead to the Council. Subsection (5) introduces Schedule 3, which contains transitional provisions in respect of the abolition of energywatch and Postwatch. As the existing National Consumer Council is a company limited by guarantee, there is no need to dissolve this body under the Act. Instead, it will be dissolved under the Companies Acts.
87.Section 31 gives the Secretary of State the power to designate the Consumer Council for Water for abolition. The Consumer Council for Water is the statutory consumer body established by section 27A of the Water Industry Act 1991 (c. 56). The Consumer Council for Water looks after the interests of consumers of water and sewerage services in England and Wales. An order designating the Consumer Council for Water for abolition must give the earliest date on which a transfer order or an abolition order under section 32 may take effect. Before making an order under section 31, the Secretary of State must consult the Consumer Council for Water, the Council, and anyone else that the Secretary of State considers appropriate. An order under this section can be made only with the consent of Welsh Ministers (subsection (4)) and the order may not be made unless a draft has been laid before Parliament and approved by resolution of each House (see section 62).
88.Section 32(1) gives the Secretary of State the power to make one or more transfer orders and an abolition order in respect of the Consumer Council for Water. A transfer order is an order that transfers functions of the Consumer Council for Water to the Council. An abolition order is one that abolishes the Consumer Council for Water. These orders may not take effect before the date specified in the designation order under section 31. A transfer order or abolition order in respect of the Consumer Council for Water may be made only with the consent of the Welsh Ministers.
89.This section enables the Water Services Regulation Authority (“Ofwat”) to modify water and sewerage undertakers’ conditions of appointment, and water suppliers’ licences, as a result of or in preparation for the abolition of the Consumer Council for Water or the transfer of its functions to the Council. The powers under section 33 may only be exercised if the Consumer Council for Water has been designated for abolition under section 31 (subsection (1)).
90.Subsections (2) to (6) enable conditions in an appointment or a water supply licence to require the company holding the appointment or licence to pay sums towards various expenses described in subsections (4) and (5). These include the expenses incurred in abolishing the Consumer Council for Water and transferring its assets and liabilities to the Council; in expanding and operating an OFT scheme (described further below) to cater for water consumers; and a proportion of the expense of the Council having regard to its functions in respect of water consumers.
91.Subsection (7) enables Ofwat to make other consequential and incidental modifications to the above conditions. This power might (for example) be used to substitute references to the Council for references to the Consumer Council for Water in licence conditions.
92.The reference to an OFT Scheme is included to cover Consumer Direct. This is a telephone and internet based consumer advice service supported by the OFT that offers advice on consumer issues. The intention is to expand the activities of Consumer Direct to deal with individual consumer problems in relation to water and sewerage in England and Wales, if the Consumer Council for Water is abolished after consultation.
93.Section 34 provides for the payment of compensation by the Secretary of State, with the approval of the Treasury, to members of energywatch, Postwatch, the Consumer Council for Water or the existing National Consumer Council who cease to be members of these consumer bodies because the bodies are abolished as a consequence of the measures in this Act. Compensation may cover loss of office or loss or diminution of pension rights.
94.Section 35 and Schedule 4 provide for the Secretary of State or the existing consumer bodies to make transfer schemes to transfer property, rights and liabilities from energywatch, Postwatch, the Consumer Council for Water and the existing National Consumer Council to the Council.
95.Subsection (1) lists the bodies to which the section applies. Subsection (2) allows the Secretary of State to direct these bodies either to make a transfer scheme to transfer property, rights and liabilities to the Council, or to transfer specified property etc. to another specified person or organisation.
96.Subsection (3) provides that, before giving, varying or revoking a direction under subsection (2), the Secretary of State must consult both the consumer body from whom the property, rights and liabilities are being transferred, and the person to whom the property etc is being transferred (either the Council or another specified person).
97.Subsection (4) requires a consumer body which is directed to make a scheme transferring property to the Council to consult the Council before doing so.
98.Subsections (5) and (6) state that a transfer scheme must be approved by the Secretary of State before it has effect and can be modified by him, subject to consultation with the consumer body from whom the property etc is being transferred.
99.Subsection (7) allows the Secretary of State to make a transfer scheme from energywatch, Postwatch, the existing National Consumer Council or the Consumer Council for Water to the new Council.
100.Schedule 4 makes further provision in relation to transfer schemes. This does not apply to transfers to third parties (that is, to persons other than the Council) under section 35(2)(b) as such transfers are not made by way of a transfer scheme.
101.The existing National Consumer Council is a Cross-Border Public Authority under section 88 of the Scotland Act 1998 (c.46). In view of this, the Secretary of State will be required by that section to consult the Scottish Ministers before making a transfer scheme in relation to that body.
102.Subsections (1) to (3) allow the Secretary of State to require information from energywatch, Postwatch, the existing National Consumer Council and the Consumer Council for Water about their property, rights, liabilities and functions, and to set out requirements for receiving that information, such as timescale and form.
103.Subsection (4) means that the Secretary of State can direct energywatch, Postwatch, the existing National Consumer Council and the Consumer Council for Water not to take a specified action, or not to take a particular action in specified circumstances. For example, the Secretary of State may direct the existing consumer bodies not to sign up to additional property leases which extend beyond the date that the consumer body will be abolished. Subsection (5) requires the Secretary of State to consult both the consumer body to which the direction is being given and the Council before giving, changing or revoking a direction under this section.
104.This section is intended to facilitate the making of transfer schemes, in part by ensuring that the Secretary of State is able to obtain the information he needs to make such a scheme.
105.Section 37 allows the Secretary of State to make an order giving the Council additional functions if he thinks this is in the interests of consumers. Such functions must appear to the Secretary of State to be connected with the Council’s existing functions. Before making an order, the Secretary of State is required to undertake a consultation. If the exercise of the function to be conferred might affect Wales in relation to any matter in respect of which functions are exercisable by the Welsh Ministers, then he must consult Welsh Ministers.
106.The Secretary of State may not make an order under this section which makes provision which is within the competence of the National Assembly for Wales without the consent of that Assembly. Also the Secretary of State may not make any provision under this section which is within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament.
107.Section 38 provides that if the Secretary of State is content that a body other than the Council is to exercise the Council’s functions in relation to Northern Ireland, then he may repeal the relevant parts of this Act that extend the functions of the Council to postal services matters in Northern Ireland. Before making an order under this section the Secretary of State must consult the Council and anyone else he thinks appropriate.
108.Section 39 inserts new subsections (5A) to (5C) into section 10 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (c.8). These allow the Secretary of State to direct the Financial Services Authority to appoint a non-executive member of the Council to the Financial Services Consumer Panel.
109.Paragraph 1(4)(a) of Schedule 1 to the Act enables the Secretary of State to appoint a member of the Financial Services Consumer Panel to the Council.
110.Section 40 inserts new subsections (4A) to (4C) into section 17 of the Communications Act 2003 (c.21). These allow the Secretary of State to direct the Office of Communications to appoint a non-executive member of the Council to the OFCOM Consumer Panel.
111.Paragraph 1(4)(b) of Schedule 1 to the Act enables the Secretary of State to appoint a member of the OFCOM Consumer Panel to the Council.
112.This section contains interpretation provisions in relation to Part 1 of the Act.
113.This section does not define water or sewerage undertaker. The Interpretation Act 1978 (c.30) provides that these terms should be construed in accordance with section 6 of the Water Industry Act 1991 (c.56) which relates to the appointment of water and sewerage undertakers.
114.Sections 42 to 52 set out the arrangements being introduced for the handling of complaints made by consumers to service providers in the electricity, gas, postal services and water sectors. In particular, this part will require the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority and the Postal Services Commission to make regulations to prescribe complaint handling standards that will be binding on persons who are “regulated providers” (as defined in section 42) in the electricity, gas and postal services sectors (see section 43). This Part also enables the Secretary of State to make orders to require “regulated providers” in the electricity, gas, postal services and water sectors to belong to an approved redress scheme (see section 47).
115.Section 42 defines the key terms used in Part 2. In particular, this section defines the service providers and consumers in relation to whom the powers under Part 2 may be exercised (“regulated provider” and “relevant consumer”). This section also specifies the regulators who may exercise the powers under this Part (“relevant regulator”).
116.Section 43 places a duty on the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority and the Postal Services Commission to make regulations prescribing complaint handling standards that are binding on service providers. Such regulations will prescribe standards in relation to the way in which service providers handle complaints received from consumers (e.g. they might prescribe maximum response times). Regulations made under this section are not subject to any Parliamentary procedure; however, they may be made only with the consent of the Secretary of State (subsection (4)).
117.Under subsection (6) and (7), this section provides for the Secretary of State to make an order prescribing a date on which this duty on regulators to prescribe complaint handling standards will change to a power to prescribe such standards. Before making the order the Secretary of State must consult the regulator, the new Council and other persons as appropriate (subsection 8).
118.The power to prescribe complaint handling standards does not apply to the water sector (subsection 9). This is because the Secretary of State already has power to impose complaint handling standards in relation to water undertakers and sewerage undertakers under the Water Industry Act 1991 (c.56) in relation to the water sector in England and Wales.
119.Section 44 sets out the procedure that the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority and the Postal Services Commission must follow before making regulations to prescribe complaint handling standards. In particular, the regulator must publish a notice of its proposals, consult people likely to be affected and consider any representations made. Actions taken prior to the commencement of the provisions of this section may count as complying with requirements on the regulator under this section.
120.Section 45 requires the Council to publish statistical information in relation to regulated providers’ levels of performance in complying with any complaint handling standards prescribed under section 43 by the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority and the Postal Services Commission.
121.Subsection (4) gives effect to Schedule 5 which amends the Electricity Act 1989 (c.29), Gas Act 1986 (c.44) and Postal Services Act 2000 (c.26) to require the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority and the Postal Services Commission to collect information from licence holders in respect of levels of compliance with any complaint handling standards prescribed by these regulators under section 43 of the Act. The above regulators are given the power to direct licensees to provide them with the information
122.Section 46 enables the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority and the Postal Services Commission to make regulations to require regulated providers to provide consumers with information about any complaint handling standards prescribed by the regulator and about the regulated provider’s levels of compliance with those standards
123.Subsection (2) provides for the regulator to specify the form and manner of this information, and the frequency with which, it is to be given.
124.Section 47 enables the Secretary of State to make orders to require regulated providers to belong to a redress scheme (as defined in section 48(1)). The redress scheme must be one approved by the relevant regulator, or a scheme administered by the Secretary of State or by a person appointed by him and designated by him as an appropriate redress scheme (in which case the Secretary of State must be satisfied that it meets the criteria for approval by the relevant regulator – see section 47(8)).
125.“Redress scheme” is defined in section 48(1) as “a scheme under which consumer complaints may be made to, and investigated and determined by, an independent person (“the independent person”)”. For this purpose, the “independent person” must be independent of the provider against whom the complaint is made and independent of the relevant regulator in respect of that provider (section 48(2)).
126.The Secretary of State may limit the requirement to belong to a redress scheme to schemes which deal with certain types of complaint. Hence, it would be possible to exclude complaints in relation to certain matters from the requirement to belong to a redress scheme (subsections (2) to (3)). Before making an order to require regulated providers to belong to a redress scheme, the Secretary of State must consult the relevant regulator and persons who appear to be representative of persons who have an interest in the matter (subsection (4)). A consultation conducted prior to the commencement of the provisions of this section will count as complying with requirements on the Secretary of State under this section.
127.Subsection (6) requires the Secretary of State to seek the consent of Welsh Ministers before making an order which relates to a water undertaker or sewerage undertaker for an area which is wholly or mainly in Wales.
128.Subsection (7) provides that the Secretary of State may not make an order under this section unless he is satisfied that there is (or will be when the order comes into force) at least one redress scheme which each regulated provider to whom the order applies is able to join and which will satisfy the requirement imposed by the order. This is to ensure that the Secretary of State may not make an order requiring providers to belong to a redress scheme in circumstances where the providers subject to the order are unable to join a scheme since none exists.
129.Subsection (9) enables the Secretary of State to establish or administer a redress scheme. In practice, it is expected that suppliers or a trade association will establish their own redress scheme in respect of which approval will be sought for the purposes of any order under this section. However, in the event that business does not establish a scheme itself, the Secretary of State has the power to establish one.
130.Section 48 defines the key terms in relation to redress schemes.
131.Subsection (3) provides that an approved redress scheme may admit persons who are not required to belong to such a scheme and that it may investigate matters other than those to which the duty to belong to a redress scheme applies.
132.Subsection (4) provides that, for the purposes of the law of defamation, proceedings before a redress scheme will be treated in the same way as court proceedings. The effect of this is to allow the redress scheme to conduct investigations and determinations freely without the threat of defamation proceedings. Similar provision exists for most other statutory redress schemes.
133.Section 49 sets out the matters to be taken into account by the regulator in giving approval for a redress scheme.
134.Subsection (1) specifies various matters that the relevant regulator must have regard to when deciding whether to approve a scheme. These include any criteria that, in the opinion of the regulator, constitute generally accepted principles of best practice in relation to redress provision which could reasonably apply to the scheme. An example of such principles would be the guidelines provided by the British and Irish Ombudsman Association (www.bioa.org.uk).
135.Subsection (2) requires the regulator to have regard to the number of other redress schemes in relation to regulated suppliers when the regulator decides whether to approve a scheme. This is intended to avoid a proliferation of redress schemes as this could be confusing for consumers.
136.Subsections (3), (6) and (7) set out various conditions that a redress scheme must satisfy in order to be approved by a relevant regulator.
137.Section 50 provides that the regulator may determine the manner and form etc of an application for approval of a redress scheme. Changes to an approved scheme must be notified to the regulator within 14 days of any change. The regulator has power to withdraw approval of a redress scheme generally or in relation to consumer complaints of a specified description including in relation to complaints made on or after a specified date.
138.Section 51 sets out the procedure that the relevant regulator must follow when refusing approval for, or withdrawing approval from, an approved redress scheme.
139.Subsection (1) requires the relevant regulator to give the scheme administrator notice of the fact that it proposes to refuse or withdraw approval. The notice must give the reasons why the regulator proposes to refuse or withdraw approval and specify a time during which the scheme administrator may make representations to the regulator.
140.Subsection (2) provides that the regulator must notify the scheme administrator of its decision and the reasons for its decision.
141.Subsection (3) provides that the regulator must also notify the Secretary of State of its decision to withdraw approval from a redress scheme.
142.Subsection (4) provides that the regulator must also notify each member of the scheme of its decision to withdraw or refuse approval of the scheme.
143.Subsection (5) provides that withdrawal of approval of a redress scheme takes effect from the date specified in the notice withdrawing the approval (under subsection (2)).
144.Subsection (6) provides that the Secretary of State must follow the procedures set out in this section (other than those in subsection (3)) if he has appointed a person to administer a scheme under section 47(1)(b) and decides to revoke that appointment.
145.Section 52 makes provision in relation to the enforcement of complaint handling standards prescribed by a regulator under Part 2 of the Act and in relation to any requirement to belong to a redress scheme which has been imposed by the Secretary of State by order under Part 2. These requirements will be enforced under the regulatory regimes in the electricity, gas, postal services and water sectors (where appropriate).
146.Subsections (1) to (4) make amendments to the relevant legislation to provide for this. The effect of the enforcement provisions is that the relevant regulator may impose an order to secure compliance with the above requirements. The service provider is obliged to comply with such an order and breach of the order can be enforced in the civil courts. Breach of such an order may also render the service provider liable to pay damages to any person who has suffered loss as the result of that breach. In addition to the above, sectoral legislation permits the regulator to impose a financial penalty for breach of the above requirements.
147.Section 53 introduces Schedule 6 which amends the Estate Agents Act 1979 (c.38) to enable the Secretary of State, by order, to require persons engaged in estate agency work to join a redress scheme dealing with complaints from buyers and sellers of residential property. In addition, the section amends section 3 of the 1979 Act by adding engaging in estate agency work when in breach of the duty imposed by such an order to the list of grounds on which the OFT may determine whether a person is unfit to carry on estate agency work.
Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007