Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment)(No. 2) Order 2006

My Lords, I thank the Minister for introducing the order, and I put his mind at rest immediately by saying that we support it. We supported the Regulation of Financial Services (Land Transactions) Act when it was debated in your Lordships' House just a little over a year ago, and we now support its detailed implementation. When I looked back at the issues that we brought forward when we debated the Bill, as it then was, in October 2005, I found that we raised concerns about the cost of regulation. I am delighted to find that the final estimate of the cost of regulation has proved lower than it was when we debated the Bill. I do not know whether that is a first, but lower final regulatory costs are certainly welcome. At that time, we also raised concerns about timing. The Government started bringing home reversions within the FSA's regulatory ambit back in November 2003, nearly three years ago. I then asked when the new regulatory arrangements, and therefore complete protection for consumers, would be brought into effect. The Minister told me at the time that implementation would be in the first quarter of 2007. He concluded his remarks at Second Reading by saying that the Government, "““now wish to press ahead and implement it as quickly as we can””.—[Official Report, 17/10/05; col. 565.]" That sounded quite hopeful, but I now see that the implementation date has slipped back to the second quarter of 2007. It would be very easy to say that it is just a matter of two months, but we started this three years ago. The plain fact is that, although a voluntary scheme is in place, at present consumers have imperfect protection, and there has been a general consensus that that issue should be put right. I have never quite felt that there has been a sense of urgency in getting these arrangements in place, and perhaps the Minister can comment on that. I also raised with the Minister last year the plight of those who had entered into home income or shared appreciation mortgages marketed in the late 1980s. At that stage, some, but certainly not all, lenders had entered into voluntary arrangements, which mitigated some of the worst cases of hardship. But not all lenders participated in that and I urged the Minister to use the Government’s de facto powers to achieve an equitable outcome. The Minister said that the Government would continue to do what they could. Can he update the House on that? Are all lenders now engaged in a process which has removed the problems often encountered by very elderly people, who have been enticed into these arrangements, as a result of the unregulated nature of home income and shared appreciation mortgages? If not, will the Minister say what else the Government will do about this?