§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to review the rules and regulations in the Consumer Credit Act 1974 governing the granting of licences to credit reference agencies. [64078]
§ Dr. HowellsI have no current plans to review the rules and regulations governing the granting of licences to credit reference agencies. However, I am pleased to announce that later this month I will publish a consultation paper on the changes in Regulations needed to put the supervision of rights of individuals and sole traders on access to their credit reference files unequivocally under the Data Protection Registrar. This replaces the dual supervision by the Director General of Fair Trading and the DPR which currently exists under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and the Data Protection Act 1984. It will complete the regulatory changes on this issue introduced in the Data Protection Act 1998. The change will also give sole traders the clear right to see their credit reference files, rather than the conditional right they currently have. The paper will also set out proposals for making clearer the statements of rights borrowers receive on correcting wrong information held on their files.