§ 18. Mr. Kenneth Bakerasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will take steps to regulate the sale of property bonds.
§ Mrs. Gwyneth DunwoodyThe Board of Trade is examining, in consultation with interested bodies, the desirability and practicability of legislation extending control over property bonds.
§ Mr. BakerWhy is it taking so long to draw up relatively simple regulations to protect the small investor? Does there have to be a major public scandal in this sector before the Government act?
§ Mrs. DunwoodyThat is a totally unjustifiable suggestion. The hon. Member should know that all firms which sell any form of life assurance are already covered by existing Acts and can be controlled by the existing powers of the Board of Trade. It is precisely because we feel that property bonds create other difficulties that we are having talks with the people who have detailed knowledge in the industry with a view to seeing whether any alteration of the law is needed.
§ Mr. RidleySince, however, the Board of Trade now has 18,000 civil servants 1416 and very few responsibilities, would it not be possible for the hon. Lady to get on and do something about this important matter?
§ Mrs. DunwoodyThe hon. Member, who spends most of his time being peevish about the success story of the Board of Trade, must try occasionally to rise above doing so. There is no doubt in my mind that the detailed work that is being done in this direction will, when we get the results, be precisely the sort of consumer protection for which the Board of Trade is becoming very well known.