HC Deb 25 March 1965 vol 709 cc1066-71

7.56 a.m.

Mr. Norman Dodds (Erith and Crayford)

I have been in the Chamber since eleven o'clock last night, now nearly nine hours, and it has been a great experience. The interest and the energy that have been displayed should surely encourage us to have more all-night sittings so that hon. Members on this side can really get an opportunity to do their duty by their constituents and by the people.

I am at the tail end of the subject of consumer protection. I should have liked the public to recognise that through the hours of the night Labour Members have been like guardian angels, looking after the interests of the nation while it sleeps. Consumer protection is of tremendous importance, because it is not simply what a person gets in his pay packet that matters: it is what the money buys that matters. The need is that they shall get a fair deal for their money.

At this hour, I have neither the energy nor the time to make the speech that I would have made earlier. Reference has been made to the subject on which I should like to concentrate as another round in connection with the exposure of the Universal Health Studios Ltd. I recognise that in a debate on the Consolidated Fund Bill it is not permissible to suggest anything that would require legislation, but, as my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Board of Trade has announced at the Box, there is much more than legislation for the protection of the public. It is necessary either to educate or, at least, to warn the public what is going on in their midst.

My hon. Friend the Minister of State said he thought that the Universal Health Studios Ltd. had changed its ways and that at long last the public would get a square deal. It should be known that the Universal Health Studios Ltd. in this country is an offshoot of the big Vic Tanny Enterprises, Inc. of America that was forced to close down in 1963. The reason for that is that the law is much more severe in that country than in this. My hon. Friend has referred to the United States Federal Trade Commission, We all know by now that, according to my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Board of Trade, a new managing director, Mr. Philip Phillips, is now in control. As I said in the House a week or so ago, this is a "stooge" appointment. We had hoped, nevertheless, that there would be a change of ways, that the sales manual would have been dropped, that there would have been changes with regard to the legal department, and that at long last there would have been set up a complaints committee of J.P.s and other prominent people to see that the public get a square deal.

My hon. Friend the Minister of State hoped that at long last the public would get a fair deal. I should like to refer to a remark made by Mr. Bowman-Shaw, reported in the Daily Telegraph of Wed- nesday, 24th March, which is the crux of the whole affair. These are his words: There is about £1½ million in credit outstanding. This was one of the attractions for Mr. Phillips. I would say without any doubt that the aim of the Universal Health Studios Ltd. even now is not to give the public a square deal nor to do anything about making the body beautiful.

Mr. Philip Phillips is really a debt collector, and nothing more. There is no doubt that, after years of press-ganging members of the general public to join, contracts have been signed involving £1 million and more. It is on that score that the Universal Health Studios Ltd. continues to extort as much money as possible from the public, who have been press-ganged into signing those contracts over a long period.

The most important part of the Universal Health Studios Ltd. is the legal department. We had hoped, with the pressures which have been brought to bear, that this so-called legal department would have ended. Undertakings were given by Mr. Phillips that that would be done. In the last few days, there has been unprecedented enthusiasm in the legal department. All over Britain, people are receiving letters from the legal department, giving them 14 days to pay up, or they will be taken to court. This is an absolute and utter scandal. This letter is headed "Legal Department", and the wording appears to be an infringement of the 1957 Solicitors Act. It says: Legal Department, 19th March, 1965. …From our records, we see that the sum of £24 15s. 0d. is still outstanding under your contract, and this is long overdue. We now have instructions to take proceedings against you in the Croydon County Court, for recovery of this sum, and this will be done unless this amount is received in this Office within 14 days. Without prejudice, however, we would be prepared to accept the sum of £12 10s. 0d. in full and final settlement of all claims against you, providing that this sum is paid within the time stated above. If you avail yourself of this offer, the Contract will be rescinded. I have files of letters which have been sent in the last few days, some in respect of £50 and others for £25, to people who have not had any correspondence with the company for about 12 months. These are cases of the most blatant press-ganging, which even the previous Administration had given up as a bad job. Now there is £1¼ million in the pipeline and Mr. Philip Phillips is doing his best to get some of it as soon as he can.

Mr. Rhodes

Has my hon. Friend any evidence to show that this kind of pressure is being put on people who ceased to take courses because of physical incapacity, since the Minister of State said earlier that the company had promised that it would allow people who could not continue on medical grounds to pull out of the courses?

Mr. Dodds

It includes everyone; those who never even had one lesson and those with illnesses. What is more, there is no one in the legal department there who has any legal qualifications whatever. The nearest to someone with legal qualifications is an Indian law student. And the man in charge has had two terms of imprisonment, has been heavily fined for purporting to be a solicitor and has been banned by the Law Society from having a job in any solicitor's office. It is an absolute and utter scandal that tens of thousands of people in Britain are today being not only fleeced, but that some of them have become nervous wrecks, having received a succession of letters threatening to take them to court.

This has been going on for a long time and I am asking for protection to be given to consumers against this sort of thing, for it is obvious that our laws are too weak. They must be when people in America are forced to close up shop because of the Federal laws there but they can come here and open up shop, and then proceed to fleece people and hound them, as they are doing in this case. It is an absolute and utter scandal. Can we not do more to protect people from being fleeced by these American methods?

It must be remembered that the clubs do not have instructors who are qualified to look after the people who attend them. I have received many letters indicating that people are doing harm to their health because qualified instructors are not present. Indeed, some of the instructors contradict each other to such an extent that damage is done to people's health, apart from them losing their money. It is scandalous.

The hon. Gentleman the Member for Cheadle (Mr. Shepherd) has given me permission to quote from a letter written by someone in his constituency. It states: Last May my wife attended the Manchester branch of the Universal Health Studios, where, due to lack of supervision by a qualified gymnast she suffered an injury to her hip. My wife wrote to the Universal Health Studios pointing out that due to this injury she was unable to carry on the course but would do so when the injury was cured and until such time that it was could payments be deferred? In due course she received a letter from the Universal Health Studios stating that deferment was not possible… My wife again wrote to them enclosing a doctor's note confirming her disability. This letter was eventually replied to. But even this was not acceptable. Since that time my wife has seen two orthopaedic specialists and is at present attending Withington Hospital daily for treatment. I have again written to the Universal Health Studios enclosing a photostat copy of the hospital report in the hope—possibly forlorn—that they will take a human view of the case and avoid legal proceedings. It is now ten months since my wife sustained the injury and during this time she has and indeed is still suffering considerable pain, often preventing her from doing normal housework. Both my wife and myself are keen on keeping fit, but in this regard I am lucky. You see, I can attend the Y.M.C.A. for £4 10s. a year and be trained by a fully qualified instructor. Unfortunately, there is no similar club available for women in Manchester and, consequently, my wife appears to have fallen victim to the now apparently notorious Universal Health Clubs. That is typical of the many letters I have received.

One thing is certain; if it were not possible to advertise to get floods of new recruits into these buildings, it would not be possible for a business like this to continue. The advertising, which is left in the hands of voluntary organisations, is enabling these people to get recruits. They want recruits, and what they want to do is to disappoint them as soon as they can get hold of their money in order to make room for more to go in. This has gone on for years. They have 70,000 members at present and they have 30 clubs, and but for what was said in this House they were planning another 85.

We had hoped that with this changed front, this Mr. Phillips, we would at last have seen the end of the long trail of misery, but I am afraid that the trail of misery not only continues but has during the last few days been accentuated. The hopes of my hon. Friend the Minister of State have, like those of so many other people, been disappointed, yet nothing can be done in this House. It is a scandal, and I only wish that I had more time to give more cases.

Several Hon. Members

rose—

Mr. Speaker

Order. I want help about this. We are getting the reply to a debate rather separated from the topic, are we not?

The Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport (Mr. Stephen Swingler)

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Can I explain the situation? We have had a succession of three speeches on quite different subjects. The last speech, that of my hon. Friend the Member for Erith and Crayford (Mr. Dodds) reverted to a debate that had been replied to by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Board of Trade, but two of my hon. Friends previously have raised problems that concern my Department, and I am here, prepared, as I have been all night, to reply to those two hon. Friends. So before further speeches are made, and subjects raised. I should like, if possible, to reply to my two hon. Friends.

Mr. Speaker

I cannot manage this without being unjust to someone, so I must choose the least harmful method at the moment. Mr. Swingler.