My Lords, I thank noble Lords for their valuable, if somewhat caveated, comments during this debate. I will do my best to answer the lengthy questions that were raised by the noble Lords, Lord Borrie and Lord Whitty. There is some crossover in the questions. Generally, most of them focused on further clarification of the responsibilities and roles of the different bodies. I will do my best to answer the questions today rather than having to write.
This order focuses on the better delivery of consumer advice and education and will lead to enhanced levels of protection through better enforcement. As I said earlier, it is not about cuts. It is about working more efficiently and effectively for the taxpayer. The order will finalise the transfer of the consumer education and advice functions to Citizens Advice, making that trusted brand the first port of call for consumers with a problem to solve. The noble Lord, Lord Whitty, expressed concerns about the Freedom of Information Act being applied to Citizens Advice. That extension will be limited to provisions relating to the function that is transferred under the order. Citizens Advice has, under the terms of the Public Bodies Act, given its consent to the inclusion of the FOI Act.
The noble Lord also raised concerns about the interim period and whether information-gathering powers will be transferred. I can reassure him that it is the ultimate intention to transfer the information-gathering powers to Citizens Advice. In the interim, Citizens Advice will work closely with Consumer Focus to ensure that consumer welfare is preserved.
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The noble Lord asked if help for vulnerable consumers will be retained. I can reassure him that we expect the work of the Extra Help Unit to transfer to Citizens Advice. The exact mechanism of the transfer is being developed but will feature in the second public bodies order. In addition, it will enable more appropriate allocation of consumer enforcement cases between Trading Standards and the OFT, empowering and supporting Trading Standards to take on more cases of national significance, ensuring that national activity is linked to local intelligence. The noble Lord, Lord Borrie, raised the issue of the OFT losing its co-ordinating role, but I can reassure him that the OFT will retain that role as it will continue to be notified where enforcement orders are to be obtained under the Enterprise Act. This is in accordance with EU provisions. In practice, only the OFT receives notifications of such enforcement.
I turn to compliance with the Public Bodies Act. Section 8(1) provides that Ministers may make an order only when they consider that it serves the purpose of improving the exercise of public functions. I have set out how the order has regard to efficiency, effectiveness, economy and securing appropriate accountability to Ministers.
The noble Lord, Lord Borrie, mentioned that he is unfamiliar with the Consumer Protection Partnership, and I want to provide some more information for his reference and interest. We have established the CPP, which was formerly, as he will know, the Strategic Intelligence, Prevention and Enforcement Partnership, or SIPEP, for short, involving the Competition and Markets Authority, the National Trading Standards Board, the Trading Standards Institute, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Regulated Industries Unit, Citizens Advice and consumer bodies from Scotland and Northern Ireland, to share intelligence, inform the activities of each of the partners and provide accountability for the national consumer protection system. Since June 2012, the CPP has formed working groups to address how to identify consumer detriment and mass marketing scams and offer solutions to potential sources of detriment arising from the Green Deal.
The noble Lord, Lord Borrie, in talking about the CPP, asked about its role. I reassure him that it is much more than a talking shop. We believe that the CPP comprises the right partner organisations, which I mentioned earlier, and that all partners have an important role to play. It will ensure that important issues do not fall between any gaps. Its primary purpose is to identify and prioritise areas where there is the greatest detriment to consumers. Partners will then agree and co-ordinate collective action to tackle such detriment, using all available tools at their disposal.
The noble Lord, Lord Borrie, raised the National Trading Standards Board. It supports local authority trading standards services to work together to enforce consumer law against national and regional threats to fair trading. Local authority trading standards services will continue to address local threats and issues under local political control. The board deploys national funding from government and will provide leadership on cross-boundary enforcement through heads of trading standards services acting together across England and Wales. Trading standards bodies in Scotland have similar arrangements in place, and they work together to advise on UK-wide enforcement issues and the co-ordination of business education.
The noble Lord, Lord Borrie, would like clarification of who trading standards officers are and who would have political oversight of the local levels. While government has directly funded cross-regional enforcement programmes, the NTSB’s professionals will be able to use their expertise to harness intelligence in order to prioritise resources. This will provide a direct link with local trading standards services enabling greater impact for consumers and better value for scarce public funds. The board will consist of one representative from each of the English regional and Welsh trading standards groups. These representatives are mandated to take decisions at the board on behalf of their regional group. The board will be led by an independent chair and representatives from BIS, Scotland, Northern Ireland and professional trading standards groups will act in a non-executive capacity. In addition, there is a political oversight group to ensure synergy with local political governance.
The noble Lord, Lord Borrie, asked whether the Government will retain any consumer enforcement power within the CMA. Yes, the CMA will have the power to tackle competition problems and practices—