Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007

20 Duty to enter into co-operation arrangements

(1) It is the duty of the Council and each designated body to enter into co-operation arrangements under this section.

(2) In this section—

• “co-operation arrangements” means arrangements made by the Council and a designated body with a view to securing co-operation between them, including—

  (a)

  the exchange of information between them,

  (b)

  the co-ordination of any activities they carry on in connection with their functions relating to the provision of advice or information to consumers, and

  (c)

  consistent treatment of matters which affect both of them;

• “designated body” means—

  (a)

  the Office of Fair Trading;

  (b)

  the Consumer Panel established by the Financial Services Authority under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (c. 8) (“the Financial Services Consumer Panel”);

  (c)

  the Consumer Panel established by the Office of Communications under the Communications Act 2003 (c. 21) (“the OFCOM Consumer Panel”);

  (d)

  a person designated by the Secretary of State by order for the purposes of this section.

(3) The co-operation arrangements must set out—

(a) in the case of the Financial Services Consumer Panel, the procedure for consulting and making nominations for the purposes of paragraph 1(4)(a) of Schedule 1 to this Act and section 10(5A) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (c. 8);

(b) in the case of the OFCOM Consumer Panel, the procedure for consulting and making nominations for the purposes of paragraph 1(4)(b) of Schedule 1 to this Act and section 17(4A) of the Communications Act 2003.

(4) As soon as practicable after agreement is reached between the Council and a designated body on co-operation arrangements, the Council and the body must prepare a memorandum setting them out and send a copy of it to the Secretary of State.

(5) The Council and a designated body must keep under review any co-operation arrangements entered into by them under this section.

(6) As soon as practicable after agreement is reached on any changes to co-operation arrangements, the Council and the designated body to which they relate must revise their memorandum and send a copy of the revised memorandum to the Secretary of State.

(7) The Secretary of State must lay a copy of any document received under this section before each House of Parliament.