§ Mr. Mike Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection when the report of the Consumer Protection Advisory Committee on the reference made to it on 24th April 1974 on the exclusion of consumers' rights will be published; and what action she proposes to take in consequence.
Mr. Alan WilliamsThe committee's report has been laid before Parliament today and is to be published as a House of Commons paper tomorrow.
The committee has in general endorsed the Director General of Fair Trading's proposal that the purported exclusion of consumers' inalienable rights when buying 368W or otherwise acquiring goods should be prohibited. The committee has also, however, identified certain problems which will need further consideration in the preparation of a draft order.
Subject to this I accept the conclusions of the report and intend to use my order-making powers under Section 22 of the Fair Trading Act 1973 to make such order as may be appropriate for giving effect to it. But because the procedure is new and the time available for representations has so far been limited, on a matter which is of wide concern to businessmen and consumers alike, I propose, exceptionally in this case, to ask interested parties to comment on the proposed provisions within a strictly limited period before inviting Parliament to approve an order. This will also allow traders more time to amend guarantee and other documents which will be affected.
Special consideration will need to be given to notices and statements such as "No goods exchanged" which are not void in law but may seriously mislead the customer as to his rights. Should it not prove possible to ensure that such statements are suitably qualified, the Director General of Fair Trading has indicated that he would be prepared to consider making a further reference.