Clause 201 - Consumers
Enterprise Bill
8:15 pm
Miss Melanie Johnson (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of Trade and Industry; Welwyn Hatfield, Labour)
I understand Opposition Members' points. They are right in their surmise that a distinction has been made between consumers for the purpose of domestic infringement, and consumers for the purpose of infringement of the legislation to which the injunction applies. Businesses are not treated as consumers in the Bill. Prospectus business may be covered by the provisions, but that is to address the issue of people hit by homeworking scams. Otherwise, relationships between businesses are not covered. What we have done is consistent with the approach of successive Governments to consumer protection legislation. We recognise the reality of relationships between consumers and businesses; in general, businesses have an advantageous bargaining position over consumers.
I accept that some small businesses, such as those mentioned by the hon. Member for Twickenham (Dr. Cable), might sometimes feel at a disadvantage when dealing with larger businesses. However, there is a clear difference between consumers and small businesses. Those who go into business do so knowing how to negotiate, bargain, form relationships with other firms and so on, and advice and support services are available to small businesses.
I am aware of calls for businesses, particularly small businesses, to be covered by consumer protection legislation. Indeed, we have looked into that, but the results of our consultation showed that it was not a major worry. The point was not pushed by business groups. Such provision would result in a significant extension of trading standards responsibilities, which are currently focused on consumer issues. We must be careful not to impose too much state intervention on normal business dealings. The hon. Member for Twickenham was hinting at a small business to large business provision, but it would be difficult to know where to draw the lines in the sand without covering all business-to-business relationships.
For the reasons that I have given, we do not propose going down such a path. I accept that there has been some interest, but business in general has not picked up on the matter. I hope that the Committee will accept that there is a coherence about our approach, which is in line with that taken by successive Governments over many years.