Trading Standards (Hansard, 16 July 2003)

§ Dr. Cable
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many Stop Now Orders have been issued since June 2000; and if she will make a statement. [125827]

§ Mr. Sutcliffe
Since June 2001 when the Stop Now Orders (EC Directive) Regulations came into force, seven Stop Now Orders have been sought and obtained from the courts. Four of these were obtained by Trading Standards authorities and three by the Office of Fair Trading.

§ Dr. Cable
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many complaints have been received alleging unfair contract terms under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 in each year since 1997; how many of these complaints have been open for more than two years; and how many successful prosecution there have been in each year since 1997. [125825]
381W

§ Mr. Sutcliffe
The Office of Fair Trading's (OFT) figures for complaints by calendar years are:

1997: 1,045

1998: 1,110

1999: 1,359

2000: 1,202

2000: 1,179

2002: 1,048
Figures for the last two financial years are:

2001–02: 1,076

2002–03: 1,055
At the end of the last financial year, 125 cases had been open for over two years.
OFT has no power to undertake prosecutions as such for the use of unfair terms. Its power is to seek injunctions to prevent the use of unfair terms. But OFT may accept undertakings not to use unfair terms in lieu of seeking injunctions and in nearly all cases it secures such improvements in standard contract terms in this way, through consultation and negotiation. Since 1995, OFT has secured some 900 undertakings from businesses not to use unfair terms. These undertakings govern the use of some 5,000 unfair terms. In only one case, that of 'Director General of Fair Trading v. First National Bank', has the OFT had to take legal action to stop the use of a term it considered unfair. In that case, the House of Lords reversed the decision of the Court of Appeal and decided that the term in question was not unfair.

§ Dr. Cable
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how many undertakings she has received from businesses to desist from unfair trading; how many subsequent breaches of these undertakings there have been; and how many have been prosecuted for breach of undertaking; [125826]
(2) if she will set out the procedures in place for monitoring undertakings given by businesses to desist from unfair trading. [125828]

§ Mr. Sutcliffe
Under the Stop Now Orders (EC Directive) Regulations 2001, there have been 26 undertakings (12 by the Office of Fair Trading and 14 by Trading Standards authorities) received against business breaching consumer protection legislation. The DTI do not receive undertakings from business under these Regulations.
As a result of breaches of the undertaking, seven cases gone to court and Stop Now Orders obtained. A breach of a Stop Now Order in one case resulted in the trader been found guilty of contempt of court.