Clause 59
Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Bill
12:00 pm
Ian McCartney (Minister of State (Trade & Investment), Department of Trade and Industry; Makerfield, Labour)
I shall try and be as detailed as I can, because, as hon. Members have said, this is a sensitive issue. It is important that we strike the right balance. Let us be clear: the clause is a very important step forward for consumer rights, and it deals with something that has been a cause for concern over many years for trading standards officers, in particular, and for consumer councils and other bodies that represent consumer interests.
The clause relates to contracts concluded with consumers in their home or workplaces—namely, doorstep selling. It gives the Secretary of State the power to provide for exemptions when he makes regulations giving consumers the right to cancel a contract entered into during a solicited visit to a their home or workplace. There is no need for the clause to be amended to enable exemptions to be made in doorstep selling regulations, because clause 60(3) will do that already by providing that regulations under the Bill may apply generally, or be subject to exceptions, and may make different provisions for different cases.
We will consult on the draft doorstep selling regulations, including on potential exemptions, later this year, and I shall write to hon. Members with more detail at the appropriate time. It would not be appropriate, therefore, for the Bill to include specific exemptions, such as for certain service providers, as that would pre-empt the consultation.
The existing doorstep selling regulations already either exempt or make provision for effective cancellations in some cases, such as for food and drink supplied by regular arrangement—for example, milk delivered to a consumer’s door, perishable goods, goods to meet an emergency or those incorporated into land before cancellation, such as double-glazed windows, where the consumer is obliged to pay for the goods and services in connection with their supply. Although I cannot say specifically what exemptions or cancellation provisions might apply, we are aware that some exemptions from the new regulations will be needed.
We are considering the need for an exemption for some specific service providers, such as providers of funeral services. In response to a public consultation on doorstep selling in 2004, we received representations from the funeral services industry, seeking exemption from the new doorstep selling regulations. Many consumers agree in their homes a contract for a funeral or the details of an advertisement announcing a family member’s demise. The provision of funeral services where the contract is made in the home would be caught by the new regulations unless specifically exempted. We are currently considering the industry’s request for an exemption, in the interests of not raising unnecessary obstacles for newly bereaved consumers who are arranging contracts for funeral services in their home at a very difficult time. Undertakers often carry out the funeral within seven days. It is too late for the consumer to change their mind when their loved one is buried, so we are not considering a cooling-off period in those circumstances.
We are aware of the need to make provision for consumers to receive goods and services during the cooling-off period if they wish to do so. We will also aim to ensure that those who require goods or services in an emergency can get them. Limiting the number of specific exemptions from the regulations is a sensible approach, which will give consumers maximum protection and ensure that they receive necessary services during the cooling-off period.
By contrast, the Opposition’s probing amendment seeks to exempt traders, such as plumbers, from requirements to provide a cooling-off period or to give written notice of cancellation rights, which would weaken the protection considerably. An exemption for emergency services, for example, would mean an exemption for only those services that a consumer wanted to receive during the cooling-off period, not for all the services that were provided by the trader.
I shall give an example. If, under our proposals, a consumer had a burst pipe, they could call a plumber and agree that the work should be carried out during the next seven days. The trader would not refuse to provide the service within the cooling-off period, as the consumer could not subsequently cancel the contract. If the consumer wanted a new bathroom fitted, however, they could agree with the plumber a contract for the plumbing work in advance, so there would be a cooling-off period. The consumer would also receive written notice of their cancellation rights.
There is another example that applies to gardeners. If a tree in a consumer’s front garden fell, perhaps due to strong winds, and was blocking the driveway, the consumer would probably want to have it removed within seven days. However, for routine, regular gardening work done by a gardener who came monthly, the consumer could agree a contract with more than a week’s notice. From the point of view of consumer protection, it would be preferable to ensure that it would be possible for the emergency work to be undertaken, but not to provide a blanket exemption for all gardeners.
The amendment could lead to the exemption of many traders from the new requirements for solicited doorstep sales, thereby giving consumers less protection from rogue traders. That cannot be in the interests of consumers, although I accept that it is a probing amendment. The purpose behind the new regulation is to give consumers good protection from rogue doorstep traders. We will not weaken the new regulations by making lots of holes in them through blanket exemptions for specific traders. We will limit the exemptions to those that are in the interests of the consumer and that give them the best possible protection from rogue doorstep selling.
I remind right hon. and hon. Members that I have used only examples of possible exemptions from the new regulations by way of illustration. As I said, we will consult on the regulations and their exemptions later this year; I do not want to be seen to pre-empt that consultation by saying that those examples are definitely carved out from the regulations. I hope that I have given some sense of what we want and need to do, and that the hon. Gentleman is able to withdraw his amendment.