§ Mr. Clifton-BrownTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many cases were considered by the Housing and Estate Agents Ombudsman in the last year for which figures are available; how many cases were(a) upheld and (b) rejected; what the average time taken was to consider cases; and the average cost per case. [137194]
§ Mr. SutcliffeThis is a matter for the Ombudsman for Estate Agents. However, I understand from the Ombudsman's 2002 annual report that 2,306 complaints concerning member agencies within the scheme's terms of reference were received in 2002. Of the 583 cases closed, 340 were found in favour of complainants, 239 in favour of member agents and four outside the terms of reference.