§ Mr. Haywardasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made in implementing the reports of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission on architects' and surveyors' services.
§ Mr. Alexander FletcherThe Monopolies and Mergers Commission reports on architects and surveyors services were published in 1977. Both reports dealt with the practice of architects and surveyors fixing their fees by reference to published fee scales. The fees were mandatory in the case of architects and recommended in the case of surveyors. The Commission found that this practice restricted competition and operated against the public interest. It recommended that in the case of architects, fee scales should cease to be mandatory and that in both cases published recommended scale fees should carry an indication that they were for guidance only. The Commission also recommended that members of both professions should be free to compete on the basis of fees.
Following discussions with the Office of Fair Trading and subsequently with Ministers about the reports, the professional bodies representing both professions agreed to make the recommended changes regarding fee scales. The associations also agreed to amend their rules of bye-laws to allow their members to compete on the basis of fees.
All the professional bodies concerned have now amended their rules and byelaws accordingly. I welcome the steps that have been taken to remedy the adverse effects specified in the Commission's reports.