§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what consultations he has had with Yellow Pages over the proposals in the Consumer White Paper. [93366]
§ Dr. HowellsOfficials met with Yellow Pages as part of the consultations that led to the White Paper.
§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) ifThe Times industrial correspondent was briefed by Government sources on the Consumer White Paper prior to his oral statement on 22 July 1999, Official Report, columns 1342-44; [93326]
(2) which newspapers were briefed prior to his oral statement on 22 July 1999, Official Report, columns 1342-44, on the publication of the Consumer White Paper. [93235]
§ Dr. HowellsMembers of the press were invited to a briefing at 12.00 pm Tuesday 22 July. As is normal practice, they were locked in until my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State spoke in the House.
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§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the codes of practice which he regards as unsatisfactory and which his Consumer White Paper refer to as little more than sales devices. [93369]
§ Dr. HowellsNo. There is currently a wide spectrum of codes ranging from the comprehensive and effective, through those which are well intentioned but do not work as well as they could, to those which exist as adjuncts to seemingly legitimate logos but have no practical effect. The Director General of Fair Trading has no power to disapprove codes at present, merely to encourage the preparation and dissemination of consumer codes. The Consumer White Paper "Modern Markets: Confident Consumers" (Cm 4410) proposes to give the OFT a power to give a seal of approval to codes that put the core principles into effect so that consumers, including those with poor literacy skills or who do not speak English, can see at a glance which codes are satisfactory; and that OFT will publicise decisions to approve or reject codes.