My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Curry, and the noble Baroness, Lady Hayter, for their comments and, if I read it correctly, their broad support for this order. It is particularly nice to have good support from the noble Lord, Lord Curry, in the light of his current role.
At the beginning of her speech, the noble Baroness, Lady Hayter, quoted some interesting comments from President Kennedy back in 1962, which I thought was really rather nice. It shows that this is something that goes back decades, and not just in this country. Consumer interests and consumer-facing issues are matters that cross boundaries and continents and remain, as we know particularly in this country, quite a live issue. Following that, the noble Baroness raised the issue of proper protection for the consumer. The Regulators’ Code promotes proportionate, consistent and targeted regulatory activity in relation to consumer regulation and other protections. We believe it takes appropriate action when non-compliance is identified. The noble Baroness also raised the issue of letting agents. She is well aware that there have been debates recently—indeed there is one this very day—in the other place on the Consumer Rights Bill. I know she is definitely well up on that particular issue and indeed takes a lead in debating it.
The noble Baroness asked a substantive question about the consultation, and I will spend a little time explaining the length and depth of the consultation. As I said earlier, the public consultation lasted eight weeks. It opened on 8 March 2013 and closed on 3 May 2013, with 95 responses received from a variety of organisations. There were 14 responses from national regulators, 37 from local authorities, 20 from business and trade associations, and 17 from professional bodies. To give a general overview, business respondents were generally supportive of the draft revised code and the provisions contained within it. They highlighted the shorter, clearer nature of the revised code, which would make it easier to know what they can expect from regulators. The substantive responses included the following: businesses welcomed the focus on the need for regulators to provide advice and guidance. They suggested that publication of service standards would lead to increased transparency and accountability, but felt there was a need for greater clarity around the notion of growth. This was also raised by the noble Lord, Lord Curry. They were also concerned that
the revised draft code did not have sufficient strength and that regulators would not fully comply with the provisions.
Local authorities were generally supportive of the principles but expressed concerns that the detailed provisions were too prescriptive and would therefore impose additional burdens. The authorities stressed the fact that the revised code put too much emphasis on requirements for regulators and not enough on recognising the responsibilities of businesses. They were also concerned about the potential use of the code as a mechanism for challenge and the cost considerations of additional appeals procedures.
National regulators held rather more mixed views. Some felt that the provisions were too burdensome and were concerned about possible legal challenges, while others were positive about the opportunity to engage with the business community. National regulators commented on the need for any measurement and process to be proportionate to regulatory activity. Finally, they argued that culture change was important—I add my own strong support for that—to embed the code’s principles, and that training and leadership can assist with this. I could go on but I hope that gives a substantive and full overview of the response. I will be more than happy to write to the noble Baroness should she wish for more substantive detail.