§ Mr. Philip Hollandasked the Minister for Trade how many consumer complaints were received in total and by area by citizens advice bureaux during the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what was the total cost of dealing with these.
§ Dr. VaughanNo precise estimates are available of the cost of dealing with enquiries at citizens'advice bureaux, which are independently managed and locally financed. I understand from the CAB national association that in 1981–82 bureaux in England, Wales and Northern Ireland dealt with 790,000 inquiries in the category "consumer, trade and business", distributed by area as follows:
Area No. of enquiries 000s North East 30 Yorkshire and Humberside 56 Lancashire and Cumbria 27 Greater Manchester 60 Merseyside 47 East Midlands 44 West Midlands 107 North Wales 7 South Wales 23 East Anglia 25 Essex 25 Chilterns 56 North London 31 South London 33 West London 33 East London 27 South East 29 Surrey and West Sussex 25 Southern 39 Wessex 36 Devon and Cornwall 17 Northern Ireland 13