What steps he is taking to protect the most vulnerable and poorest members of society from unscrupulous lenders.

The Consumer Credit Bill, which is currently before the other place, will improve the regulation and monitoring of consumer credit businesses and extend protections, rights and means of redress for consumers against unscrupulous lenders. Furthermore, the Government are funding two pilot schemes aimed at tackling loan sharks in Birmingham and Glasgow. That will enable trading standards officers to prosecute illegal lenders in those areas and gain a clearer understanding of the scope, extent and impact of illegal money lending.

I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. Will he join me in welcoming the results of the pilot scheme in Glasgow, where prosecutions have been brought? However, he will be aware that the approach of Christmas makes the pressure on families even stronger than normal. Does he agree that credit unions can help people in need? Will he do something to lessen the amount of red tape that credit unions have to deal with?

First, may I acknowledge my hon. Friend's thanks to the loan shark pilot team in Glasgow? It is working very well, and has managed to get individuals put behind bars for the way that they treat vulnerable people. Credit unions are very important, and I am talking to Treasury colleagues about ways to reduce the administrative burdens that they face. Their work, and the new Consumer Credit Bill, will alleviate the problem and usher in a period of responsible lending and borrowing, with people at the bottom end of the scale, who have the most problems, getting the support that they need.

Given that unscrupulous lenders are spread across the UK, will the Minister speak to his ministerial colleagues in the Northern Ireland Office to ensure that those rogues are dealt with effectively in Northern Ireland as well?

It is important that we look at what is happening all over the UK, including Northern Ireland. We are acquiring much evidence and gaining new skills about how to tackle the loan shark problem. Loan sharks prey in the most horrible way on vulnerable people. We have made sure that people are able to get advice and support. Through the Office of Fair Trading licensing scheme, we are ensuring that people who lend money are reputable.

The Minister knows that financial inclusion is one way for people to get out of the hands of unscrupulous lenders, and that the Treasury Select Committee has set up an inquiry into financial exclusion to which he will be invited in the new year. However, there is poor co-ordination between Government Departments on this matter. For instance, research information about postcodes for financial inclusion is available to the Treasury and the DTI, but not to the Select Committee. Will he work with his colleagues in the Treasury to ensure that we get that information before the inquiry begins, so that a map can be made of the areas of financial exclusion? That will enable us to tackle the problem in a more co-ordinated way.

I acknowledge the work done on this issue over a number of years by the Select Committee, of which my right hon. Friend is Chairman. I shall be happy to appear before his Committee again, as I was the last time that I did so, but I shall make sure that the information that he requires will be made available before then.

Even at this late stage, will the Minister reconsider his refusal to include more detail in the Consumer Credit Bill about what would constitute an unfair relationship? Is he not aware that both lenders and consumer groups are calling for greater clarity? Their concern is that as the Bill stands, it will harm the interests of borrowers. Without greater detail, lenders will become more cautious in their lending, driving those on the fringe to borrow from unscrupulous lenders or loan sharks at excessive rates of interest. Is not it wholly unreasonable to expect such issues to be resolved through the courts, requiring some unfortunate borrower to take on the legal might of the financial institutions to establish what is fair and what is not?

This is an issue that the hon. Gentleman and I have discussed throughout the stages of the Consumer Credit Bill, and I am not minded to change my mind on the unfairness test. That test replaces the extortionate credit test, which did not work for consumers. The unfairness test will give the courts the opportunity to decide all relevant factors. We also have the alternative dispute resolution procedure before the court-based system. Transparency is at the heart of the Bill to ensure that lenders and consumers know what they are letting themselves in for.

The pilot projects on loan sharks in Glasgow and Birmingham, to which my hon. Friend referred, have indeed proved successful. Glasgow city council, which is involved in the scheme with the Department, has written to me—and, no doubt, to other MPs in Scotland—pointing out that it has uncovered evidence of loan shark activity in my constituency, linked to that in Glasgow. Like Dr. McCrea, I urge my hon. Friend to ensure that the pilot schemes on loan sharks are rolled out throughout the country as soon as possible.

My hon. Friend has a good record of support for people on low incomes and encouraging financial inclusion. We will look at the outcomes of the pilots, which are already good. The Glasgow project is looking at the rest of Scotland, but we will try to roll out to the rest of the UK the experience and skills developed in those pilot schemes.