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Holiday Misdescribing

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many complaints were made to the Director General of Fair Trading concerning the misdescribing of holidays by tour operators or travel agents in each year since 1997; how many such complaints were investigated by the Director General of Fair Trading in each year; and how many were upheld in each year. [168869]

 
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Mr. Sutcliffe: The OFT has not kept statistics of the numbers of complaints made to it about misdescriptions of holidays by tour operators or travel agents. In most such cases consumers are in dispute with the operator or agent and will be seeking redress for breach of contract and disappointment. In general they seek advice from their local trading standards service. They can also seek help from the Association of British Travel Agents which offers conciliation and arbitration services to help resolve disputes with its members.

The numbers of consumer complaints made to trading standards departments about misleading claims, lack of availability, or lack of information relating to holidays in the UK and abroad, and, more specifically, about such claims made by travel agents, to 31 December 2002, is as follows:

	Holidays in UK and overseas	Travel agents	Total
1997	7,244	1,022	8,266
1998	7,234	939	8,173
1999	6,980	1,824	8,804
2000	6,818	1,321	8,139
2001	(51)19,129	1,374	20,503
2002	7,820	1,262	9,082

⁽⁵¹⁾ Complaints in 2001 include a large number of consumer complaints about a single company that was operating a nationwide scam. The company's activities have ceased.

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many complaints have been made to the Director General of Fair Trading concerning the conduct of travel agents and travel operators in each year since 1997; how many such complaints were investigated by the Director General of Fair Trading in each year; how many were upheld in each year; and how many, and which, travel agents and travel operators have been banned as unfit to practice by the Director of Fair Trading since 1997. [168870]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The OFT has not kept statistics of the number of complaints made to it about the conduct of travel agents and tour operators. Generally consumers complain to their local trading standards services. While not specifically about the "conduct" of travel agents and tour operators, the total numbers of consumer complaints about holidays in the UK and abroad, and complaints about travel agents, made to trading standards from 1997 until 31 December 2002, are presented in the following table:

	Holidays in UK and overseas	Travel agents	Total
1997	18,387	2,211	20,598
1998	18,805	1,984	20,789
1999	16,523	3,445	19,968
2000	16,463	3,192	19,655
2001	33,531	3,304	36,835
2002	17,812	2,887	20,699

Members of the Association of British Travel Agents whose conduct is in question are subject to its disciplinary code. The OFT has powers under the Enterprise Act 2002 to prevent conduct, such as breaches of contract or breach of the law, which harms the collective interests of consumers.
 
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The OFT does not have the power to ban travel agents and tour operators. However travel agents or tour operators that offer credit agreements must apply to the OFT for a licence. The OFT considers whether a trader is a fit person to hold a licence and can remove a licence if it regards a trader as no longer fit. Worldscape.Net Limited, an internet package holiday company, was refused a consumer credit licence in 2003.

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) complaints have been received, (b) complaints have been investigated and (c) prosecutions have been made under the (i) Package Travel Regulations and (ii) Timeshare Act 1992 in each year since 1992. [169374]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department has no enforcement powers in respect of either the Package Travel, Package Holiday and Package Tour Regulations 1992 or the Timeshare Act 1992. We do not investigate individual complaints under either statute.

Generally, consumers complain to their local trading standards service who do have the powers to enforce elements of these Acts. The trading standards service collates statistics of complaints made to them. They are unable to provide figures from this sector which reflect action under specific pieces of legislation.

The Office of Fair Trading maintains a register of returns of convictions under consumer protection legislation. Regrettably, however, the register is currently being upgraded and is incapable of producing accurate figures of the type requested at present. The Office of Fair Trading will write to the hon. Member when this information is accessible.

Maternity Leave

Mr. Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many and what percentage of women in Preston have taken 26 weeks maternity leave since 1997. [169669]

Mr. Sutcliffe: Take-up of maternity leave is not recorded centrally. It is possible to make an estimate of the numbers of women taking maternity leave based on employer returns to Inland Revenue for payment of Statutory Maternity Pay (since 2003 this has covered the first 26 weeks of leave). Figures for the take-up of SMP are not available on a regional basis, but nationally around 300,000 women receive SMP each year.

In addition, there will be some women who will qualify for maternity leave but not SMP (because they do not meet the earnings criteria) and similarly some who qualify for SMP but not leave (because they are employed earners for the purposes of SMP but not employees in order to qualify for leave).

Mr. Neil Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many and what percentage of women in Wigan have taken 26 weeks maternity leave since 1997. [169319]

Mr. Sutcliffe: Take-up of maternity leave is not recorded centrally. It is possible to make an estimate of the numbers of women taking maternity leave based on employer returns to Inland Revenue for payment of Statutory Maternity Pay (since 2003 this has covered the
 
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first 26 weeks of leave). Figures for the take-up of SMP are not available on a regional basis, but nationally around 300,000 women receive SMP each year.

In addition, there will be some women who will qualify for maternity leave but not SMP (because they do not meet the earnings criteria) and similarly some who qualify for SMP but not leave (because they are employed earners for the purposes of SMP but not employees in order to qualify for leave).

Miners' Pension Fund

Tony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps the Government is taking to ensure that the Trustees of the Miners' Pension Fund protect (a) the pension and (b) the bonuses paid from inflation. [168566]

Nigel Griffiths: Members of the Mineworks' Pension Scheme and the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme should receive inflation linked increases to both their basic pensions and their bonuses to September 2006 and January 2008 respectively.

National Minimum Wage

Mr. Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many workers in Preston have benefited from the national minimum wage. [169671]

Mr. Sutcliffe: It is not possible to provide estimates specifically for the constituency of Preston. However, based on the Office for National Statistics' Low Pay data released in 2003, the DTI estimates that around 140,000 people in the North West stood to benefit from the introduction of the National Minimum Wage in April 1999. Between 130,000 and 160,000 people were expected to have benefited from the October 2003 uprating of the National Minimum Wage.

Mr. Neil Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many workers in Wigan have benefited from the national minimum wage. [169318]

Mr. Sutcliffe: It is not possible to provide estimates specifically for the constituency of Wigan. However, based on the Office for National Statistics' Low Pay data released in 2003, the DTI estimates that around 140,000 people in the North West stood to benefit from the introduction of the national minimum wage in April 1999. Between 130,000 and 160,000 people were expected to have benefited from the October 2003 uprating of the national minimum wage.

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