§ Mr. Brothertonasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection how many visits there have been by members of the public to consumer advice centres in the Humberside Region; and what is the average cost of dealing with each inquiry.
§ Mr. John FraserI understand that, in the period from 1st October 1975 to 30th September 1976, only those personal visits and telephone calls to consumer advice centres in the Humberside Region which required action from consumer advisers were recorded. They totalled 13,486. I regret that information on the average cost of dealing with each inquiry is not readily available.
§ Mr. Brothertonasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection whether any record is kept of visits by members of the public to consumer advice centres; if so, how many visits there were in the latest period for which figures are available; and whether it is possible to calculate the average cost of each visit.
§ Mr. John FraserI understand that local authorities, whose responsibility it is to run local consumer advice centres, do not at present maintain records of visits to such centres on a sufficiently consistent basis to enable the figures the hon. Members ask for to be calculated.