§ Mr. John Fraserasked the Minister for Trade what information he has as to the amount of consumers' deposits still owed by organisations which bonded holidays sold by the Laker Group; and whether he has any indication as to when such deposits will be returned.
§ Mr. SproatPayment is still outstanding from bonds provided by the two Laker companies, Laker Air Travel Ltd. and Arrowsmith Holidays Ltd. The administration of the relevant bond moneys is a matter for the Tour Operators Study Group Trust Fund Limited—TOSG.
I understand from TOSG that some 95 per cent. of individual consumers booked with the two companies were provided with a replacement holiday, or have since received payment from the bonds. Because of the way in which the records of Laker Air Travel Ltd. were maintained for its North American holidays, there has been some delay on claims in that sector. I am told, however, that significant progress is now being made by TOSG, leaving only a comparatively small number of claims outstanding. Some of these raise certain legal difficulties, but TOSG hopes that all proper and valid consumer claims will have been cleared by early next year.