2 Introduction
2. On 26 May 2004 the Government laid before Parliament
a proposal for the Regulatory Reform (Unsolicited Goods and Services
Act 1971) (Directory Entries and Demands for Payment) Order 2004
in the form of a draft of the Order and an explanatory memorandum
from the Department of Trade and Industry (the Department).[1]
3. The proposed Order contains three connected proposals,
which make substantive changes to the requirements on directory
publishers under the Unsolicited Goods and Services Act 1971.
It would also effect a number of related consequential amendments
to other legislation.
4. Proposal A is to relax requirements imposed
by section 3 of the Unsolicited Goods and Services Act 1971 (which
specifies the procedures to be complied with before a person,
usually a business, may be bound to pay for the publication of
an entry in a directory) where a contract is renewed or extended.
5. Proposal B is to allow agreement to the
publication of directory entries to be given over the telephone,
provided certain information has first been provided to the purchaser
and he pays for the entry by means of a debit or credit card.
6. Proposal C is to repeal section 3A of the
Unsolicited Goods and Services Act 1971, which gives the Secretary
of State power to make Regulations to govern the form and content
of invoices and other related documents in relation to the publication
of directory entries and to specify a simplified set of provisions
which will, for the first time, be capable of being satisfied
by electronic documents.
7. Our discussion of matters arising from our examination
is set out below. Where a criterion specified in Standing Order
No. 141(6) is not discussed in the report, this indicates that
we have no concerns to raise about that criterion.
1 Copies of the proposal are available to Members of
Parliament from the Vote Office and to members of the public from
the Department. The proposal is also available on the Cabinet
Office website:
www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/regulation/rra/rro/proposals.asp
Back
| 
