My Lords, I start by apologising if I repeat things that I said at Second Reading but I regard all three of my amendments that I have tabled as a dress rehearsal for Report. I am particularly grateful to have been joined in support for these amendments by two other former chairmen of the National Consumer Council: my noble friend Lady Wilcox and the noble Lord, Lord Whitty.
My first amendment, Amendment 51, is something that I feel deeply about and is important to any sort of success in the Bill. I think of all the years that I and
others have spent introducing consumer legislation and sitting on Committees—Second Reading Committees and other Bill Committees. At the beginning the of the Bill’s Committee stage in the other place, witnesses were called from all three consumer bodies that are best known and have the most experience. The stunning information that they gave was that 75% of all consumers had no idea of their rights or obligations. Therefore, every piece of past consumer legislation that I and others have been involved in has proved to be fairly worthless. We now have this important Bill, which is very welcome and comprehensive, and on which the Government have spent time, involving witnesses and great expense. We should realise that without this amendment, we might all be wasting our time.
Not only do consumers want this legislation but businesses do, too. The British Retail Consortium said that it would be only too happy to join in this. The point of sale is the point at which the consumer decides to buy the goods or pay for services. It is essential that they know what their rights and obligations are at that stage. This is possibly the most crucial of all amendments because without it the Bill could simply go through, be welcomed by all who knew about it—certainly by most noble Lords here—and be worth nothing. This amendment, I hope, is the first crucial step in righting that wrong. It probably needs more detail by the time it comes to Report, and needs to provide precisely what information is required. I was very impressed by similar amendments tabled by my noble friend Lady Neville-Rolfe regarding goods bought online, which will be covered in this way.
This is a matter for which under no circumstances would I accept anything less than approval. It is fundamental; it says what it says quite clearly. I am grateful to the National Consumer Federation for helping me to draft these amendments and for its support. I hope that other Members of the Committee will also be in support.
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