On Monday, the House of Lords will have one final opportunity to rescue something from the rubble of the Digital Economy Bill.

Lord Erroll’s amendment 9A demands that Ofcom establishes a scheme to oversee the timely and effective repairs of people’s broadband connections, so that consumers are no longer left hanging  for two months – the time it currently takes the Ofcom-approved “dispute resolution schemes” to even consider a complaint when BT and a broadband provider blame one another for a fault.

“Ofcom has a duty to look after the consumer,” Lord Erroll told me last night. “There’s a feeling that Ofcom is not paying proper regard to it.”

Lord Erroll’s amendment will be tabled when the Lords make their final reading of the bill on Monday, but even he admits the chances of it being passed are “fairly low”. “It won’t be accepted because people are worried about committing BT to something that’s not been talked through,” he conceded.

Once again, the desire to protect big business looks likely to overcome the desire to protect the consumer.

The Digital Economy Bill has been a disaster for the man in the street. It includes a commitment to deliver universal 2Mbits/sec broadband by 2012, but even the Government doesn’t know what that figure actually means, making the pledge about as credible as the tooth fairy.

It includes a 50p-per-month tax to pay for next-generation broadband, which sees a widowed pensioner charged as much as a huge corporation because of the bizarre way the tax is levied.

And, thanks to the Lords themselves, it now includes an amendment that will force ISPs to block access to sites accused of illegally hosting copyrighted content. An amendment that several leading internet companies – including ones that sell copyrighted content themselves – describe as a threat to freedom of speech.

Collectively, the Lords have outright failed to protect the interests of the consumer in the four months they’ve spent debating and refining the Digital Economy Bill. Lord Erroll’s worthy amendment is their last chance to salvage something worthwhile. Amendment 9A must be passed; they owe us one.