Clause 28 - Applications for standard licences
Consumer Credit Bill
10:15 am
Charles Hendry (Shadow Minister, Trade & Industry; Wealden, Conservative)
Why is this matter being included in the Bill and not being dealt with through regulation? It is constantly evolving. One of the aspects relates to debt adjusting, an issue that was not known about 30 years ago. In 30 years’ time, new types of business will have been set up, but we simply do not know what they are at this stage. It appears that they will not be covered by this area of the Bill. Subsection (5), on the OFT powers, states that the OFT
“shall by general notice specify the descriptions of business which can be set out in an application”
and implies that the OFT may be able to bring forward new definitions. However, that appears to relate to descriptions of businesses rather than types of business. The Bill lists a number of types of business, which appear to be set in stone. Would it not be more sensible to deal with this through regulation instead?