To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what consideration he has made of introducing a public Bill with generally applicable provisions analogous to those in the Leeds City Council Bill and other similar private Bills.

I am aware that several local authorities, including Leeds city council, are pursuing private Bills seeking to extend their powers in relation to the control of street trading and to limit the activities of certified pedlars, and that some seven local authorities have already done so.

This Department is in the process of undertaking research to better establish evidence about the effectiveness of current legislation in this area and to gather views from all stakeholder groups with an interest. This will enable us to better assess whether there is a case for national legislation to provide all local authorities with additional powers along the lines of the private Bills and Acts; and to decide the best way forward that balances the interests of business, consumers and pedlars.