§ First, the level of hire purchase and similar controls. The Government have not yet taken decisions on the recommendations of the Crowther Committee, but I have concluded that the right course in the present circumstances is to remove all the existing terms control restrictions on hire purchase, credit sale and rental agreements. I am not of course referring to provisions designed to protect the consumer. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry is making the necessary Orders, which will take effect at midnight tonight.
§ This move will stimulate considerable additional demand and has the added advantage that the direct effect on demand is greatest in the early months.
§ This change will mean that all those who provide consumer credit will now compete on an equal footing.
1040§ As for the future of consumer credit arrangements, I made clear in my Budget speech that the control of consumer credit and the general methods of quantitative monetary control go together. The consultations with the banks and other institutions concerned are now in progress. In due course, in the light of the Crowther Committee's recommendations and our experience of the new methods for general credit control, we shall have to consider the arrangements for consumer credit in the wider context.