Consumer Credit Bill
9:25 am
Mr Gerry Sutcliffe (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Employment Relations, Competition and Consumers), Department of Trade and Industry; Bradford South, Labour)
I beg to move,
That—
(1) during proceedings on the Consumer Credit Bill, in addition to its first meeting at 9.25 a.m. on Tuesday 25th January, the Standing Committee shall meet at —
2.30 p.m. on Tuesday 25th January; and
9.25 a.m. and 2.30 p.m. on Thursday 27th January, Tuesday 1st February and Thursday 3rd February;
(2) the Bill be considered in the following order, namely, Clauses 1 to 55, Schedule 1, Clauses 56 to 59, Schedule 2, Clauses 60 to 68, Schedule 3, Clause 69, Schedule 4, Clause 70, new Clauses, new Schedules and remaining proceedings on the Bill;
(3) proceedings on the Bill shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion at 6.55 p.m. on Thursday 3rd February.
Welcome to the Committee, Sir John. It has been my pleasure to sit with you on Finance Bills and on a variety of other Committees over the years, and I am delighted that you will be chairing our proceedings, together with your co-chairman Mr. Benton.The Bill has been well consulted on. It is a long time since the last Consumer Credit Bill was passed in 1974. When the White Paper was published, there was a great deal of consultation with industry and with consumer groups on the regulations that flowed from it, so the Committee will have a wealth of information at its disposal to enable it to deal adequately with the Bill. I am delighted that the hon. Member for Tewkesbury (Mr. Robertson) is in his place, and I look forward to his words of wisdom. Alongside him sit his Whip, and the hon. Member for Richmond Park (Dr. Tonge), who is in place of the hon. Member for Gordon (Mr. Bruce) this morning, who is away on parliamentary business.
The Committee has a wealth of talent, Sir John, given its experience on many issues, including debt. It would take too long for me to go through the expertise and knowledge of each Member—and, as a former Whip, I have other information as well. I look forward to their involvement.
The Bill is important, as it will affect the lives of all our constituents. Unfortunately, there are many sad stories of people getting into a great deal of difficulty with debt, and that is one of the reasons why the Bill is needed. I know that we will give it due consideration.