Clause 27 - Charge on applicants for licences etc.
Consumer Credit Bill
10:15 am
Charles Hendry (Shadow Minister, Trade & Industry; Wealden, Conservative)
I am grateful for the chance to ask some questions. The Minister said that the OFT will consult widely, but who will be consulted once the charges are set? Will there be a right of appeal if firms believe that the charges are too high? Can the Minister give a clearer idea of what the level of the licence charges may be? He said in ministerial-speak that they will increase from the current level. Everything increases under this Government and goes up. Can he give us a ball park figure? Will the increase be £500, £5,000 or £50,000? At the moment, we do not have a feel for what the figure will be, other than that it will be rather more than at present.
Will the Minister also comment on the need to fund the activities of trading standards services? The guidance from the OFT says that the new work for trading standards services will require new money. Paragraph 12 of the guidance states:
“It is therefore envisaged that costs related to these new powers and functions will represent additional costs to the system.”
Does the Minister expect that some of the licence funding through the OFT will also fund the trading standards services? If not, where will that funding come from? Can he indicate what costs will be on trading standards offices? We are all aware that local authorities are consistently anxious about additional responsibilities being put on them without funding being provided to pay for those services. It seems that this may be another of those responsibilities and that they will be expected to take on new staff, which will involve training and additional running costs. Where will the money come from to pay for the extra activities of the trading standards offices?