Mr. Jeremy Godfrey:

I will answer the Deputy's question about how public enforcement and representative actions complement one another. The annex refers to 60 pieces of legislation and they are all different. As they all involve different public bodies, one answer probably does not apply to all of the pieces of legislation. Broadly speaking, when enforcement action is taken, sometimes the trader concerned settles the case. As part of that settlement, the trader might agree to pay compensation to all the affected consumers, which means there is no need for follow-on action. In other cases, there might be enforcement action. It can be the case that the obligation is to pay compensation. I refer, for example, to statutory amounts of compensation for delayed flights. The consumer rights Bill proposes to introduce a requirement for refunds in some circumstances, or price reductions in appropriate circumstances. If a trader is not complying with those obligations, the enforcement action can order them to comply with those obligations. It is all quite complicated because there are different enforcement mechanisms for different pieces of legislation.

An order to comply with an obligation to pay compensation might obviate the need for follow-on class action. There are other mechanisms in the legislation for which the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, is responsible. One sometimes sees compensation orders on foot of a criminal conviction, for example. There are a number of different routes that might result in consumers getting redress without needing a representative action.