§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Trade what, if any, recent advice he has had from the Director General of Fair Trading on social and commercial developments relating to the provision of credit; and what issues his Department has referred to the Office of Fair Trading in the past 12 months.
§ Dr. Vaughan[pursuant to his reply, 23 March 1982, c. 284]: The Director General deals as appropriate with such developments in his annual reports. There is continuing consultation with the Office of Fair Trading on the regulations being prepared to complete implementation of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
On the wider question, my Department regularly passes to the Director General information which might be relevant to his functions, although in the past 12 months the only specific requests made to him were to review certain aspects of the Opticians Act 1958 and their effects upon competition; and to keep watch, as part of his continuing review of the motor sector, for any problems arising from the storage of new cars prior to sale.