§ Mr. HeddleTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Mid-Staffordshire of 16 December 1987,Official Report, column 539, if he will indicate what reviews he has carried out either generally or specifically since the implementation of the Estate Agents Act 1979; if he will publish in the Official Report the results of these reviews; whether any review in any form is currently being carried out in respect of sections 5, 18 or 21; whether he has any plans to amend regulation 5 of the Estate Agents (Accounts) Regulations 1981; and whether he has any plans to introduce regulations to give effect to section 22 of the 1975 Act.
§ Mr. Butcher[holding answer 10 February 1988]: This Department has not carried out any overall review of the Act since its implementation. My predecessors have, however, considered whether regulations should be made under sections 16 and 17, section 19 and section 22 of the Act, but have concluded that there was no strong case for doing so. I have no plans to introduce regulations to give effect to section 22 of the Act and no immediate plans to amend regulation 5 of the Estate Agents (Accounts) Regulations 1981. The Director General of Fair Trading has a statutory duty under section 25 of the Act to superintend its working and enforcement, and I have received advice from him on aspects of the working of the Act, including sections 5, 18 and 21. I am awaiting with interest the outcome of proceedings between the Office of Fair Trading and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors with regard to section 18.