Clause 47 - Power of OFT to require access to premises
Consumer Credit Bill
12:00 pm
Gerry Sutcliffe (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Employment Relations and Consumer Affairs), Department of Trade and Industry; Bradford South, Labour)
The clause gives the OFT powers to enter premises to obtain information and documents and enables it to carry out routine monitoring visits when enforcement officers will be able to observe business operations. It also enables the OFT to investigate more effectively suspected lapses of fitness. The OFT must first issue a notice requiring a licensee to ensure that an authorised officer can enter premises at a reasonable time. The clause does not apply to premises used only as dwellings.
The notice issued must set out the reasons why access is required. The authorised officer may observe the business or inspect any documents on the premises that have been specified or described in the notice and are present. An authorised officer may also require anyone on the premises who is involved in the licensee’s business to help them in their duties.
The OFT can access the premises only of standard licence holders and the original applicant for group licences and may do so if that is reasonably required to help it to carry out its duties under the legislation. There may be times when the OFT needs to access premises of third parties. In such cases, the OFT may require access to the premises of someone other than the licensee only if he thinks that an act or omission concerning fitness has occurred. Such an inspection must be reasonably required to enable the OFT to take or to consider taking licensing action. Again, that does not apply to premises used only as dwellings.
With that explanation, I hope that the Committee will support the clause.