Clause 51 - CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS
Consumer Credit Bill
10:30 am
Mr Gerry Sutcliffe (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Employment Relations, Competition and Consumers), Department of Trade and Industry; Bradford South, Labour)
The hon. Gentleman will not be surprised to hear that I agree that the OFT should maintain records of monitoring visits. I reassure him that that will happen even without his amendment. Every monitoring visit that is undertaken by the OFT, or by officers acting on its behalf, will be recorded in writing. That is essential if the evidence gained is to be used to monitor fitness. Without the written record the visits are useless. Any records that relate to licensing decisions will be made available to the appeals tribunal, should the need arise. Those will include records of the monitoring visits. I hope that I have assured the hon. Gentleman that his amendment is not necessary and that I can persuade him to withdraw it. The written record will be used at the tribunal.