§ 11. Mr. Costainasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the progress of the new Consumer Council in Hong Kong.
§ Mr. EnnalsThe council has considered almost 7,000 individual complaints and taken successful action in 489 nearly 600. In about 1,200 cases the retailers' explanations were considered satisfactory; and action in the rest proved impossible.
§ Mr. CostainDoes the right hon. Gentleman not think that the House should congratulate Hong Kong on the way it has got this going so quickly? Are there not some examples that we might emulate in this country?
§ Mr. EnnalsI am not going to comment on whether an experiment in Hong Kong would be applicable in this country. However, I think that the hon. Gentleman is quite right in suggesting that the experiment in Hong Kong has been most encouraging. I congratulate those responsible in Hong Kong on the initiative that they took.