HC Deb 02 May 1977 vol 931 cc26-8
29. Mr. Ward

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection how many consumer advice centres are now open and being grant-aided by his Department.

Mr. John Fraser

Our present estimate is that there are about 120 centres, all of which will be grant-aided by my Department in 1977–78. I intend to announce further details about the grant scheme very shortly.

Mr. Ward

I congratulate my hon. Friend on this undoubtedly outstanding achievement of the Department in expanding the number of consumer advice centres, but will he guarantee that when he is discussing the financial arrangements in future with authorities being grant-aided, such as the London borough of Havering, he will ensure that they are not just riding on the back of the Government and the taxpayer but are maintaining the quality of service which was established when the centres were first set up, usually by their Labour predecessors?

Mr. Fraser

I regret that some Conservative authorities have either disbanded centres or shown very much less enthusiasm for them. The way in which the centres are run and the initiatives to open them are for local decision, but I hope that all the centres which are now open will try to maintain their previously well-established high standards of service.

Sir David Renton

Is there not scope for the saving of public expenditure by getting the consumer advice centres, wherever possible, to join forces with the citizens' advice bureaux? I suggest that that would especially apply in the smaller towns.

Mr. Fraser

Of course, the consumer advice centres and CABs work closely together. I have been to one or two recently where they are both housed in the same building. It is not always easy to get a High Street shop consumer advice centre and combine it with a CAB. That must be a matter for local decision.

Mr. Swain

Is my hon. Friend aware that the main plank in the Conservative Party manifesto for the county elections on Thursday in Derbyshire is to do away with the consumer advice centres? Will he be prepared to make a Press statement tonight to tell the people of Derbyshire and the country what an excellent job consumer advice centres are doing on behalf of the people?

Mr. Fraser

I bitterly regret it if any local party or authority promises the electorate that it will close down consumer advice centres, particularly as during the course of this year the entire cost is covered by the central Government.

Mr. Freud

Will the Minister reconsider my earlier plea for travelling advice centres or centres at which telephone inquiries can be made and for advertising the information of advice centres in local papers? As the Minister well knows, people in rural constituencies need that sort of help very badly.

Mr. Fraser

I fully understand that people in remote rural areas are not readily able to find their way to a CAC and I am pleased to encourage schemes for freepost inquiries, telephone access to CACs, mobile advice and so on. Although we encourage and give aid, what is needed in any remote rural locality must be a matter for local decision.

Mr. Dykes

Will the Minister ensure that the staff of CACs are properly briefed and trained in giving proper advice on the real rate of interest applicable to personal and hire-purchase loans?

Mr. Fraser

Yes. The CACs should now have the consumer credit tables published by the Director General of Fair Trading. People I have spoken to have found them extremely useful in giving advice to the general public and to Traders.

Mr. Ioan Evans

I congratulate the Department on the way it has gone ahead, setting up advice centres that are deeply appreciated by consumers. However, will the Minister ensure that there is a feed back from the advice centres to the Government so that if there are numerous complaints on specific items of consumer protection the Government can take legislative action to deal with the problem?

Mr. Fraser

I regard CACs as being the eyes and ears of my Department When a pattern of complaints emerges, the facts are made available in my Department. Matters such as the petrol price display order have come about partially through the feelings expressed through CACs.