 House of Commons |
Publications on the internet Index of Amendments |
|
Amendment Paper as at
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (a) | publish court rulings and details of cases brought before the ombudsman concerning levels of interest rates and ancillary charges for agreements deemed unfair under section 19, and |
| (b) | present to the Secretary of State a report on the conclusions it has come to and the recommendations it has decided to make as a result of its consideration of these findings. |
(3) Where, on receipt of the report from the Office of Fair Trading, the Secretary of State considers that the cost of credit for any particular product, or within any sector of the consumer credit market, taken together with any charges made for ancillary services usually sold together with regulated agreements, are causing widespread consumer detriment, he may by order introduce regulations requiring the Office of Fair Trading to set out maximum permitted levels of interest and other charges for particular products or in particular sectors of the consumer credit market.
(4) Regulations as provided for under subsection (3) may not be laid unless the Secretary of State has first published a notice of intention to do so, and not less than 52 weeks have elapsed since the publication of such notice.
(5) During the period of the notice, the Office of Fair Trading shall—
| (a) | consult with industry and consumer bodies concerning the possible effects of the introduction of a maximum permitted level of interest, and |
| (b) | make a report to the Secretary of State concerning the consultation responses and the conclusions it has come to and the recommendations it has decided to make concerning the issues raised by the responses. |
(6) Where a creditor charges a rate of interest or makes a charge that is in excess of any permitted maximum imposed under subsection (3), then the agreement will be unlawful and unenforceable against the debtor and the creditor shall be liable for a civil penalty.
(7) Regulations introduced under subsection (3) may provide for maximum levels of interest and other charges to be—
| (a) | reviewed at such times as the Secretary of State thinks fit, and |
| (b) | revised in line with changes to the Bank of England Base Lending Rate or as considered appropriate and recommended by the Office of Fair Trading following the consultation provided for in subsection (5).'. |
Data Protection Act 1998 (c. 29)
Mr Laurence Robertson
Mr Stephen O'Brien
Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger
Gregory Barker
NC3
To move the following Clause:—'In Schedule 2 to the Data Protection Act 1998 (conditions relevant for purposes of the first principle: processing of any personal data), in paragraph (1), at the end insert—
| "Implicit in this consent will be access to all or any relevant historic data records held by the data processor.".'. |
Standard method for the calculation of interest accrued
Malcolm Bruce
Dr Jenny Tonge
NC4
To move the following Clause:—'(1) The Office of Fair Trading shall consult financial agencies and produce a standard method for the calculation of interest accrued to enable direct comparison between products.'.
Further duties of the Office of Fair Trading
Malcolm Bruce
Dr Jenny Tonge
NC5
To move the following Clause:—'(1) The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) shall periodically, and at least annually, publish the range of interest rates and ancillary charges on the market for specified products.
(2) The OFT shall publish court rulings and details of cases brought before the ombudsman on levels of interest rates and ancillary charges for agreements deemed unfair under section 19 and report on these findings to the Secretary of State.'.
Ms Secretary Hewitt
1
Page 5, line 31 [Clause 6], leave out 'on the day' and insert 'immediately'.
Ms Secretary Hewitt
2
Page 5, line 34 [Clause 6], leave out first 'on' and insert 'at the end of'.
Ms Secretary Hewitt
3
Page 9, line 29 [Clause 11], leave out 'on the day' and insert 'immediately'.
Ms Secretary Hewitt
4
Page 9, line 31 [Clause 11], leave out 'on' and insert 'at the end of'.
Ms Secretary Hewitt
5
Page 11, line 27 [Clause 16], at end insert—'( ) In section 32(1) of the Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act 1971 (c.58) (regulation of civil procedure in sheriff court) after paragraph (l) insert—
| "(m) | permitting the debtor or hirer in proceedings for— |
| (i) | a time order under section 129 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (time orders), or |
| (ii) | variation or revocation, under section 130(6) of that Act (variation and revocation of time orders), of a time order made under section 129, |
to be represented by a person who is neither an advocate nor a solicitor."
( ) In section 32(2B) of the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980 (c.46) (offence for unqualified persons to prepare certain documents)—
| (a) | after "represent" insert "—(a)"; |
| (b) | after "cause" insert— |
| "(b) | a debtor or hirer in proceedings for— |
| (i) | a time order under section 129 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (time orders); or |
| (ii) | variation or revocation, under section 130(6) of that Act (variation and revocation of time orders), of a time order made under section 129".'. |
Ms Secretary Hewitt
6
Page 12, line 11 [Clause 17], leave out 'on the day' and insert 'immediately'.
Ms Secretary Hewitt
7
Page 12, line 12 [Clause 17], leave out first 'on' and insert 'at the end of'.
Malcolm Bruce
Dr Jenny Tonge
21
Page 13, line 19 [Clause 19], at end insert—'(2A) For the purposes of this section, an agreement shall be automatically unfair if the court determines that—
| (a) | at the time of making the agreement the debtor could not reasonably have been expected to maintain the level of payments required under the agreement; or |
| (b) | the lender made inadequate attempts to determine the financial circumstances of the borrower at the time of entering into an agreement.'. |
Ms Secretary Hewitt
8
Page 13, line 25 [Clause 19], leave out 'one or more' and insert 'all or any of the'.
Ms Secretary Hewitt
9
Page 18, line 33 [Clause 26], leave out 'business' and insert 'consumer credit business or a consumer hire business (as the case may be)'.
Ms Secretary Hewitt
10
Page 18, line 41 [Clause 26], leave out 'business' and insert 'consumer credit business or a consumer hire business (as the case may be)'.
Ms Secretary Hewitt
11
Page 19, line 4 [Clause 26], leave out 'business' and insert 'consumer credit business or a consumer hire business (as the case may be)'.
Ms Secretary Hewitt
12
Page 19, line 21 [Clause 26], at end insert—'(8) This section (apart from subsection (1)) does not apply to a regulated agreement made by a person if by virtue of section 21(2) or (3) he was not required to be licensed to make the agreement.
(9) Subsection (1) does not apply to the enforcement of a regulated agreement by a person if by virtue of section 21(2) or (3) he is not required to be licensed to enforce the agreement.'.
Ms Secretary Hewitt
13
Page 19, line 22 [Clause 26], leave out subsection (5).
Ms Secretary Hewitt
19
Page 25, line 20 [Clause 32], leave out subsections (8) and (9) and insert—'(8) The procedures set out in subsections (6) and (7) shall be carried out concurrently with the OFT's consideration of whether it should take the step falling within subsection (2).
(9) Accordingly, the OFT's determination of any application of the licensee shall be made at the same time as its determination to take the step falling within subsection (2).
(10) If an appeal lies from the determination of that application, the step falling within subsection (2) shall not be taken before the end of the appeal period in relation to that application and, in the case of a step falling within subsection (2)(a) or (b), section 29(4) shall apply accordingly.'.
| |
| ©Parliamentary copyright 2005 | Prepared 3 Mar 2005 |