Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to amend the provisions of the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 in relation to the contractual commitments of travel agents regarding the refunding of holiday and travel bookings; and, if they have any such plans, what steps they are taking to ensure that any such changes are not financially detrimental to consumers.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Under consumer law consumers are entitled to a refund within 14 days, depending on the nature of the contract in place. Many businesses are also offering consumers vouchers or alternative dates, which consumers are able to choose should they wish. The Government is engaging with the package travel sector and consumer advocacy bodies to assess the impact of cancellations made in light of the covid-19 outbreak. We recognise the extremely difficult circumstances travel agents are currently facing, which is why on 17 March the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a wide range of support for businesses, in addition to the £30bn support announced in the budget.
Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many UK Space Agency grants for horizontal launch applications for small satellite launch programmes have been made; and what plans they have, if any, to provide additional grants for such programmes in the future.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
On 4 June 2019, the UK Space Agency announced its intention to award up to £7.85 million, subject to business case, to Spaceport Cornwall and US operator Virgin Orbit to develop facilities and operational capabilities that would enable small satellite launch from Cornwall in the early 2020s.
In May 2019, the UK Space Agency also opened a £2 million Horizontal Spaceport Development Fund to assist future horizontal spaceports with their plans for small satellite launch and sub-orbital flight. The deadline for applications closed on 17 July, and the UK Space Agency is currently reviewing submitted proposals. Grant awards will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what (1) consumer protections, (2) redress schemes, (3) requirements to provide information and (4) requirements to treat consumers fairly currently exist in UK law in relation to third-party intermediaries which offer water and energy services to consumers, including under the retail exit programme for water companies.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
In energy the Confidence Code is a Code of Practice to govern independent energy price comparison websites. Ofgem accredits sites to the Code and these must follow key principles in order to operate their service. When customers are presented with options and prices, they have been calculated and are displayed in a fair and unbiased way.
Accredited price comparison websites must operate an effective complaints process. If a customer has a complaint, they should first contact the comparison site to tell them so that they can try to resolve it. If a customer is not satisfied with the outcome, they can then contact Ofgem who will then investigate the issue.
The business retail water market opened in April. Third party intermediaries such as water brokers play an important role in supporting many customers in finding the best deal for their business. The marketing activities of such intermediaries operating in the water market, as with intermediaries generally, are subject to regulation. The Competition and Markets Authority and trading standard authorities have roles in ensuring that customers are not misled when switching to alternative suppliers. The ‘Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008’ apply to marketing activities in the water retail market.
Ofwat acts as the independent economic regulator of the new market. The Retail Exits Regulations required Ofwat to introduce a code to apply to customers who are transferred via an exit setting out the contract terms that will apply. Additionally all retailers must follow Ofwat’s customer protection code of practice that contains key customer protection obligations, including a requirement for retailers to obtain written confirmation from customers who choose to use the services of a third party intermediary.
Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish a Green Paper during the current Parliament which covers consumer protection in relation to third-party intermediaries which offer water and energy services.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Government will publish a green paper in due course that will closely examine markets which are not working for consumers.
Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the adequacy of resources (a) made available to, and (b) spent by, trading standards services since 2012, to ensure the compliance of the secondary ticket market with relevant legislation, and (2) the impact on those resources of their response to the Waterson review, published on 13 March.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
As part of the Government’s response to the Waterson review, National Trading Standards have been tasked with investigating potential enforcement cases against sellers and secondary ticketing websites that do not comply with legislation from within their current and forthcoming annual budgets.
The National Trading Standards Board have allocated £300,000 towards investigation work on ticketing for this current financial year.
Local Authority Trading Standards also play an important role in tackling consumer detriment. Spending or resourcing decisions are for individual Local Authorities to make. We do not hold the requested data centrally.
Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect consumers from abuse of the secondary ticket market; and whether they intend to introduce a regulatory regime for that market, including the establishment of an appropriate regulatory authority.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Government appointed Professor Waterson in 2015 to review consumer protections in the secondary ticketing market. He produced his report last year and in March 2017 the Government responded accepting his report in full and included amendments to the Digital Economy Act designed to enhance protections further.
The Government has no plans at this time to introduce additional legislation.
Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which the secondary tickets market meets expected standards of consumer protection and fairness; if it does not, whether they intend to lay secondary legislation under the Consumer Rights Act 2015; and if so, when.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Government appointed Professor Waterson to review consumer protections in the secondary ticketing market. He produced his report last year and in March 2017 the Government responded accepting his report in full and included amendments to the Digital Economy Act designed to enhance protections further. The Government has no plans to introduce additional legislation on the matter under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure full cooperation between international jurisdictions to facilitate legal action against alleged abuses propagated within the secondary ticketing market.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is currently undertaking an enforcement investigation and will liaise with other international enforcement bodies as necessary to progress the investigation.
The CMA is the lead UK member in the Consumer Protection Cooperation partnership and has strong working relationships with other countries.
Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the advice by Europe Direct that providing unique reference numbers on tickets by primary and secondary market ticket sellers is not regulated under the Consumer Rights Directive, and is therefore permitted.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government has not made an assessment of advice by Europe Direct on this issue.
Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they have made in discussions with the European Commission about whether it would be in accordance with the EU Consumer Rights Directive for both primary and secondary market ticket sellers to be required to provide a unique reference number to ensure event organisers can track ticket sales.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Her Majesty's Government is satisfied that it has a clear understanding of the constraints on legislation imposed by the Consumer Rights Directive and has not to date sought discussions with the European Commission on this matter.