S.C.E.

131

House of Commons

Thursday 27th January 2005

Standing Committee E

Consumer Credit Bill

——————————

Note

The Amendments have been arranged in accordance with the Order of the

Committee [25th January 2005].

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Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

27

Clause  30,  page  22,  line  46,  at end insert ‘, and shall have regard to the regulations

issued by the Secretary of State.’.

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Mr Gerry Sutcliffe

3

Clause  31,  page  24,  line  2,  leave out subsection (8) and insert—

‘(8)	Subsection (1) shall have effect in relation to a standard licence as if an

application could be made for the renewal or further renewal of the licence on the

same terms (except as to expiry) even if such an application could not be made

because of provision made in a general notice under section 24A(5).

(9)	Accordingly, in applying subsection (1AA) of section 25 in relation to the licence

for the purposes of this section, the OFT shall treat references in that subsection

to the description or descriptions of business in relation to a type of business as

references to the description or descriptions of business included in the licence in

relation to that type of business, notwithstanding that provision under section

24A(5).’.

Mr Gerry Sutcliffe

4

Clause  31,  page  24,  line  13,  leave out ‘because a person can no longer’ and insert

‘simply because, by virtue of provision made in a general notice under section 24A(5), a

S.C.E.          Standing Committee: 27th January 2005

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Consumer Credit Bill, continued

person cannot’.

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Mr Gerry Sutcliffe

7

Clause  32,  page  24,  line  20,  after ‘step’, insert ‘for such period as it thinks fit’.

Mr Gerry Sutcliffe

5

Clause  32,  page  24,  line  27,  leave out subsections (3) and (4) and insert—

‘(3)	Subject to subsection (4), where the OFT defers the taking of a step falling within

subsection (2), the licence shall continue in effect for the period of the deferral—

(a)	on the same terms (disregarding the OFT’s determination to take the step

falling within subsection (2)); or

(b)	in the case of a step falling within subsection (2)(b), on the terms applied

for;

and, in the case of a step falling within subsection (2)(a) or (b), notwithstanding

that apart from this subsection the licence would expire before the end of the

period of the deferral.

(4)	Where the OFT defers the taking of a step falling within subsection (2), it may—

(a)	specify activities or descriptions of activities which are to be excluded

from the activities authorised to be carried on by virtue of subsection (3);

(b)	specify requirements which must be complied with by the licensee during

the period of the deferral in relation to the activities authorised to be

carried on by virtue of that subsection;

(c)	terminate the period of the deferral if the licensee fails to comply with a

requirement specified under paragraph (b).

(4A)	Under subsection (4)(a) an activity may be excluded for the whole of the period

of the deferral or for only a specified part of it.’.

——————————

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

32

Clause  34,  page  27,  line  39,  at end insert—

‘(1E)

In all cases, the OFT shall state its reason for allowing for a limited period only,

when the application was for an indefinite period, and those reasons shall be

consistent with the guidelines the OFT itself sets out.’.

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Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

S.C.E.          Standing Committee: 27th January 2005

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Consumer Credit Bill, continued

Alistair Burt

46

Clause  38,  page  30,  line  30,  leave out from first ‘licensee’ to end of line.

——————————

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

33

Clause  42,  page  33,  line  27,  leave out subsection (3) and insert—

‘(3)	The OFT shall have the duty to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the revised

guidance is brought to the attention of those likely to be affected by it.’.

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

34

Clause  42,  page  33,  line  31,  at end insert ‘, which shall include a representative

sample of those likely to be affected by it.’.

——————————

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

35

Clause  47,  page  38,  line  27,  at end insert—

‘(7A)

It shall be the duty of the OFT to take all reasonable steps to ensure that its own

officers, or those of the enforcement agency, shall, when entering and while on

the premises by virtue of this section, at all times behave in a reasonable and

professional manner.’.

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Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

28

Page  39,  line  11,  leave out Clause 48.

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Consumer Credit Bill, continued

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

36

Clause  51,  page  42,  line  43,  at end add—

‘(9)	The OFT shall maintain a record of all visits to premises carried out by virtue of

the relevant sections of this Act, and those records shall be made available to the

appeal authorities set up by this Act.’.

——————————

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

37

Clause  52,  page  43,  line  16,  at end insert ‘This amount may be altered by the

Secretary of State by Statutory Instrument.’.

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

38

Clause  52,  page  43,  line  23,  after ‘OFT’, insert ‘through the courts’.

——————————

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

39

Clause  53,  page  43,  line  41,  leave out ‘and’.

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

40

Clause  53,  page  44,  line  3,  at end insert ‘; and informing him of his right of appeal

against this penalty.’.

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

41

Clause  53,  page  44,  line  11,  at end insert—

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Consumer Credit Bill, continued

‘(c)	the effect such a penalty will have on the ability of the person to continue

to run the business.’.

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Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

42

Clause  54,  page  44,  line  34,  at end insert ‘, who shall have the power to order that

the statement of policy shall be amended if he is not satisfied with it.’.

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

43

Clause  54,  page  44,  line  39,  at end insert ‘, which shall include a representative

sample of those likely to be affected by it.’.

———

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

48

Schedule  1,  page  55,  line  24,  at end insert ‘or for any other reasonable reason,

providing that reason is stated.’.

———

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

47

Clause  56,  page  45,  line  21,  at end insert—

‘( )	There shall be the right of appeal against any ruling made by the OFT to the

Consumer Credit Appeals Tribunal available to every licensee.’.

———

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136

Consumer Credit Bill, continued

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

44

Clause  60,  page  49,  line  41,  at end add—

‘(16)

No licensee shall have to pay to the Ombudsman or its scheme operator any

money until such time as the case is decided against him.’.

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Mr Gerry Sutcliffe

6

Clause  62,  page  51,  line  3,  leave out ‘1’ and insert ‘1(1)’.

———

New Clauses

Credit-token specification

Mr James Plaskitt

Chris Bryant

NC1

To move the following Clause:—

‘After section 14 of the 1974 Act insert—

“14A	Credit-token specification

A person carrying on a consumer credit business and providing a credit-

token agreement to an individual must specify in the agreement the type of

credit token that will be provided and may not provide other additional

credit-tokens, including cheques, that may be used to draw on credit

accounts without the agreement of the debtor.”.’.

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Prohibition of unsolicited credit-token applications

Chris Bryant

NC2

To move the following Clause:—

‘After section 51 of the 1974 Act insert—

“51A	Prohibition of unsolicited credit-token applications

(1)	It is an offence to give a person an application form for a credit-token

unless he has specifically requested it.

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Consumer Credit Bill, continued

(2)	To comply with subsection (1), a request must be made by the person

making the request either by way of—

(a)	a document signed by that person; or

(b)	a recorded telephone call by that person to the person or

company offering the credit-token.”.’.

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Duties of lenders and debtors

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

nc3

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)	A lender who provides credit or loans to a debtor so that the debtor may purchase

goods and/or services from a third party, who acts as an agent for the lender, in

terms of signing debtors up to financial agreements, shall take all reasonable steps

to ensure that—

(a)	the goods and/or services provided by the goods and/or services provider

are of a merchantable quality;

(b)	that the goods and/or services are legal;

(c)	that the provider of the goods and/or services, when acting as a credit

agent on behalf of a lender, does so in a professional and honest manner

and behaves in a way which could be considered reasonable in all

aspects;

(d)	that the provider of goods and/or services, when acting as a credit agent

on behalf of the lender, has not acted fraudulently in any way with respect

to the setting up and/or running of the credit agreement and the provision

of those goods and/or services; and

(e)	that the goods and/or services provider, when acting as a credit agent on

behalf of the debtor, complies with the requirements of this Act and the

1974 Act.

(2)	It shall be for the debtor to demonstrate that the provider of goods and/or services

has acted in an irresponsible or illegal way, having regard to the subsections

above.

(3)	If the debtor so demonstrates, it shall be for the lender to show that he has taken

all reasonable steps to ensure that the requirements of the above subsections have

been met.

(4)	If the lender fails so to do to the satisfaction of the court, the court shall have the

power to review the agreement.’.

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Revised 27 January 2005