Appendix B Letter from the Committee Specialist
to the Local Authority Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services
Proposal for the Regulatory Reform (Unsolicited
Goods and Services Act 1971) (Directory Entries and Demands for
Payment) Order 2004: request for information
I am writing on behalf of the Regulatory Reform Committee
to seek your views on this proposal for a Regulatory Reform Order,
which was laid before Parliament on 26 May 2004. As you may know,
the function of the Committee is to examine and report to the
House of Commons on Government proposals for regulatory reform
orders such as this.
The Committee is aware from explanatory materials
submitted with the draft Order by the Department of Trade and
Industry that LACORS was consulted about the proposal through
the circulation of the Department's consultation document issued
on 28 March 2003. We understand that LACORS informed the Department
that it did not wish to make any comment on the proposal.
The Committee has been concerned in particular at
this stage about two matters. These are, firstly, the extent
to which the Unsolicited Goods and Services Act 1971 is effective
in preventing the deceptive practices with respect to directory
publishing which Parliament legislated to restrain in the 1971
Act. Officials in the Department have informed the Committee
that, to their knowledge, there has only ever been one prosecution
for an offence under the 1971 Act committed in relation to directory
publishing. It seems to the Committee that those deceptive practices
which are made illegal in the 1971 Act have by no means disappeared.
They would therefore be interested in any comments which the local
authority trading standards members of LACORS might wish to make
as to the current extent of these deceptive practices in the UK
and the effectiveness of the mechanisms under the 1971 Act for
dealing with them.
Secondly, the Committee is required under its Standing
Order to consider whether the proposed Regulatory Reform Order
would continue all necessary protections. At this stage, the
Committee would therefore be interested to know whether the local
authority trading standards members of LACORS consider that the
law reformed in the way the Department proposes would continue
to provide sufficient protection for UK businesses against deceptive
or misleading approaches from real or pretended directory publishers.
I should be grateful for any comments you may wish
to make in relation to these or any other points concerning the
Department's proposal.
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