Policy Announcements, Friday 20 July

Government  

• Consumers will have stronger protection from rogue estate agents and traders as a landmark Bill becomes law. Measures in the Consumer, Estate Agents and Redress Act will: make it compulsory for all estate agents to belong to an independent, ombudsman with powers to award compensation to buyers or sellers; agents who refuse to join could be investigated and banned from the market;  require estate agents to keep written records of dealings with buyers and sellers for six years, to be inspected without notice; give greater powers to the OFT to remove rogue estate agents from the market; allow cancellation and cooling-off rights to be extended to solicited visits, as well as unsolicited visits - making it harder for rogue traders to take advantage of vulnerable consumers in their home; establish powerful redress schemes, which guarantee complaint resolution and can award compensation, for consumers in the energy and postal services sectors; streamline and strengthen consumer representation by creating a new stronger consumer advocate, bringing together the National Consumer Council, Energywatch and Postwatch.  
• The Department of Health today launched a campaign to inform retailers and the public that the selling of tobacco products to under 18s will be illegal from October 1st. New Government legislation will raise the age of sale for tobacco from 16 to 18 years of age.