§ 1. Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what further assessment he has made of the impact on consumer advisory services of his reduction in the grant of the National Consumer Council.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Technology (Mr. Patrick McLoughlin)I am confident that the National Consumer Council will continue to promote and safeguard the interests of consumers as a whole.
§ Mr. JonesHow can the Minister justify that statement after making a cut in the grant to the National Consumer Council? When will he restore that cut to protect consumers in this country?
§ Mr. McLoughlinThe hon. Gentleman will recognise that the National Consumer Council has done well over the years with funding increases, from some £0.32 million in 1975-76 to £2.47 million in 1994-95—an increase of some 80 per cent. in real terms. I think that that shows the Government's commitment to the National Consumer Council.
§ Mr. RiddickDoes my hon. Friend agree that, while consumer bodies such as the National Consumer Council have a role to play, consumers' interests are best served by maximising competition within free and open markets? Is that not what the Government have been achieving over the past 15 years through the rigorous use of competition policies and, most important, by privatising the old state-owned nationalised industries so that consumers' interests now take top priority?
§ Mr. McLoughlinI am grateful to my hon. Friend. He is absolutely right. We have seen time and again that competition reduces prices. Perhaps the most outstanding example of that is telecommunications.