§ 10. Mr. Mark Hoban (Fareham) (Con)If she will make a statement on steps she has taken to encourage trade bodies to regulate their members. [143328]
§ The Minister for Industry and the Regions (Jacqui Smith)We have given the Office of Fair Trading new powers in the Enterprise Act 2002 to approve for trade bodies and others codes of practice that aim to safeguard and promote the interests of consumers.
§ Mr. HobanA business in my constituency is more stringently regulated by a trade body than by the statutory regulators, and suffers from two lots of inspection and monitoring. Is it possible to cut the cost of regulation by allowing the trade body to take the lead, thus reducing the burden on small businesses?
§ Jacqui SmithThe hon. Gentleman raises an interesting point. It is difficult for me to respond today without the details of the particular trade body and regulations. What is important, however, is that through the changes in the Enterprise Act 2002 we are attempting to ensure that trade bodies regulate their members in a way that businesses and consumers can feel confident about. That is the reason for the new two-stage approach to determining the codes introduced in the 2002 Act.
I agree that we need to deregulate—that is why the raft of regulations introduced during the years of Tory Government are being seriously reconsidered. For example, in the regulatory reform action plan that was published yesterday alongside the Chancellor's pre-Budget report, the Department of Trade and Industry alone identified 60 areas for regulatory reform, many of which will bring considerable benefits to small business.
§ Lawrie Quinn (Scarborough and Whitby) (Lab)As my right hon. Friend will know from cases in her own constituency work load, constituents who are not satisfied with a particular service often, in their frustration, have recourse to the local trading standards organisation. Will my right hon. Friend give a message to the Office of Fair Trading to the effect that it should take note of the problems that trading standards officers regularly have to deal with, ensure that cowboy operators and people who hide behind trade organisations do not get away with it, and help our constituents to get the service that they want and pay for?
§ Jacqui SmithMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. We need to ensure that consumers have confidence in the whole regulatory framework by improving the process of codes underlying regulation by the Office of Fair Trading and ensuring that trading standards organisations discuss with the OFT, as they frequently do, how to secure certainty not only for businesses, but, importantly, for consumers about the regulatory process that protects their interests.