Clause 8 - Promoting good consumer practice
Enterprise Bill
6:15 pm
Mr Mark Field (Cities of London and Westminster, Conservative)
I, too, shall speak briefly. Like my hon. Friend the Member for Eastbourne, I am in principle supportive of the clause. I certainly support the idea that we should use codes of practice instead of ham-fisted regulation, but I offer one word of warning. If the codes of practice are to be self-regulatory and in the hands of some trade-related body, it is important that there is sufficient will to enforce them.
That concern arises from my own experience. If trade associations require some sort of subscription income from their associate bodies, they may prove reluctant to come down hard on offenders against codes of practice. I accept that the Government should not necessarily take a hard regulatory stance, but consumers may find themselves disappointed if certain codes of practice are not properly enforced. The biggest offenders may happily sign up to the code of practice, knowing that it will not be enforced at all,
and the protection given to consumers would be at best illusory.