§ Mr. O'Brienasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the Office of Fair Trading has examined the provisions of the Association of British Travel Agents' code of practice in so far as it relates to consolidation of holidays by tour operators; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. FletcherI understand that the Office of Fair Trading is currently monitoring ABTA's two codes of practice and that this monitoring will include all aspects of the codes including the question of consolidation of holiday arrangements by tour operators.
I also understand that the office has expressed its concern to ABTA about the reported volume of consolidations this year and has asked the Association to inform the office of what action it intends to take to deal with the problem.