§ Sir David SteelTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received about the 1989 Office of Fair Trading report entitled "Funerals", and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ForthA number of right hon. and hon. Members have written to the Secretary of State and me recently about the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) 1989 report on funerals. Most of them had seen a report prepared by the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) detailing its criticisms of the OFT report.
The OFT report was the result of a monitoring survey of the effectiveness of the NAFD's code of practice. The Director General of Fair Trading has a duty under the Fair Trading Act 1973 to encourage industry associations to adopt codes of practice which promote and safeguard the interests of consumers. In carrying out this duty he acts independently and the report on funerals is therefore a matter for him. I know that he is concerned about the comments made in the NAFD report and he has prepared a comprehensive response. I shall ask him to write to the right hon. Member.