Lord Newby
Main Page: Lord Newby (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)Competition Commission and Office of Fair Trading
Lord Newby Excerpts
Baroness Wilcox
The noble Lord, Lord Borrie, with whom I have worked many times over the years, has the OFT as his expertise, so anything that he has to say on the subject is certainly worth listening to. When it comes to the consultation period in January, I am sure that all the points that he has just made will be taken into consideration. As I said before, we have absolutely no intention to ruin a good thing; the idea is to try to improve it. Therefore, the better the consultation, the better, and I look forward to his contribution.
Lord Newby
My Lords, the Minister will be aware that at the moment, consumer credit regulation is split between the FSA and the OFT. What is the Government's latest thinking on whether that responsibility should devolve to the proposed Consumer Protection and Markets Authority?
Baroness Wilcox
Once again, that is a very good question that I cannot answer at this stage, because we are not in the consultation period. Such matters worry people. I come from a background of seven years as chairman of the National Consumer Council, which became Consumer Focus, which will now be merged with the CABx. There will be a whole new range of consumer representation. I think that it should be a very exciting and empowering time, and I look forward to it.