§ Bob RussellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent representations she has received about the Kitchen Specialists Association, the Furniture Industry Research Association and the self-regulatory fitted kitchen organisation Qualitas; if her Department has oversight of the operations of these organisations; and if she will make a statement. [66833]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonNone.
§ Bob RussellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will introduce legislation to provide further statutory protection for consumers purchasing fitted kitchens and other fitted furniture. [66834]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonConsumers already have the right to seek damages where a service has not been carried out with reasonable skill and care. Further remedies, including repair and replacement, will be available when the regulations covering the Sale of Consumer Goods Directive (1999/44/EC) are transposed.
The Stop Now Orders (EC Directive) Regulations 2001 also give effective powers to consumer protection bodies to clamp down firmly on traders who do not comply with a wide range of legislation, including regulations on the sale and supply of consumer goods. The regulations empower the Director General of Fair Trading, trading standards departments and certain other bodies to apply to the courts for a Stop Now Order to stop a trader from breaching specified legislation where those breaches put consumers generally at risk of actual or potential harm. Failure to comply with a Stop Now Order would be treated as contempt of court punishable by fines or even imprisonment.