Financial Services Bill
Debate between Mark Hoban and Stella Creasy(12 years ago)
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Mr Hoban
I ask the hon. Lady just to hold her horses for a moment. This is about the third time we have discussed this matter and she may want to engage in the debate later, but we need to understand the function of the market. The previous Government—[Interruption.] The hon. Member for Nottingham East (Chris Leslie) says that we are still making the wrong decisions, but our predecessors in government examined this issue of the cost of credit and concluded that price caps worked against the interests of consumers. This Government have, following the parliamentary debates on the matter, commissioned research to examine the impact of a cap on the total cost of credit. We should look at the research, understand what remedies are being proposed and follow that through. One of the advantages of moving the cost of the regulation of consumer credit away from the OFT to the FCA is that the FCA has a greater range of tools and can make a wider range of interventions than the more narrowly focused solutions of the OFT.
Stella Creasy
There is genuine concern about the view of lawyers that unless the power is explicit, it will be open to challenge. Will the Minister publish the legal advice that he has had to the contrary, supporting his assessment that the power in amendment 40 could enable prices to be capped as part of action on consumer detriment?
Mr Hoban
I am certain that the FCA’s broad range of powers will enable it to do that. It can use its powers in pursuit of its consumer protection objectives. However, those are not the only powers that are available.
The hon. Member for Makerfield (Yvonne Fovargue) asked whether the FCA would be able to suspend permission with immediate effect. Under new section 55Y, it will be able to vary the permission of a firm, or to impose a requirement on a firm with immediate effect if it considers that to be necessary. We will consider whether the OFT should be given the same powers in the interim.
A helpful question was asked about the asymmetry between the information given to lenders and that given to borrowers, and about whether a cash illustration could be provided alongside information about the annual percentage rate. The consumer credit directive requires the costs of credit to be specified in terms of the APR. The Commission will review the directive in 2013. We have ensured that there is a new “with regard to” provision for the FCA—something else that it must consider when it seeks to secure an appropriate degree of protection for consumers. Consumers must have timely provision of information, and that advice must be accurate and be fit for purpose in the eyes of the consumer, not those of the provider of the service. We will consider whether a provider of consumer credit should quote an indicative cash cost alongside the APR.
Finance (No. 3) Bill
Debate between Mark Hoban and Stella Creasy(12 years, 10 months ago)
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The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mr Mark Hoban)
I think that the debate has demonstrated the potential for cross-party support for the analysis underpinning the discussion we have had this afternoon, but I gently point out to Opposition Members who seek to turn this into a partisan political issue that their Government had the opportunity over 13 years to tackle this. In fact, we had a debate on it while the Financial Services Act 2010 was going through Parliament, not long before the general election, during which my opposite number at the time ruled out acting on interest rate caps because of the impact of depriving the most vulnerable of credit services. It is not a new issue, or one that is fresh to this Parliament. Ministers in the previous Government were opposed to the idea of caps because, as the hon. Member for Liverpool, Walton (Steve Rotheram) indicated, it could restrict the supply of credit, forcing those who need it into the hands of illegal moneylenders, an outcome that Members on both sides would not want to see.
Let us be clear that credit can be a good and positive force that enables people to meet needs when there is a sudden shock, such as an unexpected expense or a cut in income, but it must be used sensibly and sustainably. When people decide to borrow, they must be mindful of what that means for them and realistic about their ability to repay the loan. That is true whether the loan is over 10 years, five years or a matter of days, as is the case with some instant or payday loans. However, all lenders have a responsibility in this regard. Lending more than borrowers can afford to repay does not benefit anyone. Under the recently introduced consumer credit directive, all lenders, including high-cost credit lenders, must ensure that when they decide to advance a loan they do so after making a thorough assessment of the lender’s ability to repay.
We know that consumer debt grew significantly under the previous Government, more than doubling from £620 billion in 2000 to more than £1.4 trillion by May 2010. Some of this debt is now being repaid as consumers begin to come to terms with their borrowing, with the amount of unsecured debt reducing in the past two years. Although much of this debt will be repaid without any problems, some borrowers get into difficulty. Lenders have a responsibility to help customers and treat them fairly when they get into difficulties with loans, not push them further into debt. Continuing to add excessive arrears and default charges is a lose-lose situation; the debt increases out of all proportion to the amount borrowed, the lender is less likely to be repaid and the borrower may have difficulty borrowing again. Lenders should work with borrowers, not against them.
We should all be concerned about people borrowing at high rates of interest. However, the high-cost credit market, whatever its faults, provides a service for those who cannot get credit from any other source. We should be careful about describing high-cost credit providers as legal loan sharks. We all recognise from our own communities that real loan sharks are far worse, resorting to violence and intimidation to recover their debts. High-cost lenders are licensed and operate within a regulatory framework, which provides some recourse when things go wrong.
We should be clear that action has been taken over the past year to improve consumer protection in this area. First, under the consumer credit directive, which came into force earlier this year, consumers now have a right to withdraw from any credit agreement within 14 days. If they do so, they have to pay back only the money lent and the interest accrued over that time. Secondly, consumers have a right to repay a loan early at any time, in part or in full. Thirdly, lenders now have to provide information in a standard format so that borrowers can easily compare the costs of different loans. Improving the transparency of information will help consumers. Fourthly, lenders must conduct a full credit assessment before advancing any loan. Lenders will also have to explain the key features of the credit agreement.
In addition, the Office of Fair Trading has recently published its guidance on irresponsible lending, which clearly sets out that deceitful, oppressive or otherwise unfair lending practices are not acceptable. The OFT, which is responsible for the regulation of credit—something that whoever tabled the new clause seemed to forget—has the power to remove the licence of those who breach the irresponsible lending guidance.
Much good work is going on, including the excellent work of credit unions, which many of my hon. Friends have mentioned. It is a shame that the hon. Member for Edinburgh East (Sheila Gilmore) is not in her place. My hon. Friend the Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) is right that there is £73 million to help to expand and modernise credit unions. The money that the previous Government put into credit unions is diminishing, because the money that credit unions were able to earn on the debt was lower than the default rate on the loans given. I therefore welcome the money that the Department for Work and Pensions has found to strengthen credit unions.
As a number of hon. Members have said, we are reviewing the wider consumer credit landscape. At the end of last year, the Treasury and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills published a joint call for evidence on the consumer credit and personal insolvency review, which covers all aspects of the consumer credit life cycle, including what happens when things go wrong. This is an opportunity to ensure that the regulatory framework is fair to consumers and the industry. Part of that review focuses on the high-cost credit market. Following an OFT review that took place under the previous Government, we have asked for evidence on five of its recommendations.
Mr Hoban
Let me just finish the recommendations, and then I will give way.
The first recommendation was to provide information on high-cost credit loans to consumers through price comparison websites. The second was to introduce a “wealth warning” on high-cost credit products. The third was to collect essential information on the high-cost credit sector so that the OFT can track developments. The fourth was for the Government and industry to develop a code of practice. The final recommendation was to work with credit reference agencies to explore ways in which payday lenders could provide suitable information about the payment performance of their customers. That would help those who use high-cost credit to build up a credit history that they can use to access more mainstream lenders.
Stella Creasy
I wonder whether the Minister can deal with an anomaly that has driven the new clause. I received a letter on 25 May, which set out that the high-cost credit market was not specifically included in the consumer credit review. Is the Treasury taking the lead on this and does BIS need to follow? Will the Minister clarify this matter, because the letter from the Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey) said that BIS was not looking at this area per se?
Mr Hoban
There are a number of taxes that disincentivise certain activities. We could be here all day identifying them. The challenge is to what extent an increase in tax is passed on to the consumer and to what extent it is borne by the shareholders. There is a lot of evidence that in areas where borrowers are relatively insensitive to price, such as payday lending, the additional costs of tax measures would be passed on to the consumer. I am yet to be persuaded that that would not be the case. It might help if the Opposition had some concrete proposals on tax that could be assessed, but so far they have not. Perhaps the hon. Member for Walthamstow has a proposal.
Stella Creasy
I am saddened that the Minister did not feel that any proposals were made in the debate. I thought I had caught his eye when I talked about whetting his appetite with the excess profits that companies make. I made a specific proposal on that, which I will repeat for his benefit. Provident has taken £675 million in excess profit out of low-income communities since 2005-06, according to the Competition Commission’s investigations. Perhaps he could look at taxing the excess profits that these companies are making. Does he agree with that proposal?
Mr Hoban
I listened carefully to that point, and the hon. Lady again demonstrated the problem that she is long on analysis, but short on solutions. She talked about excess profits, but of course there is a range of solutions for that, one of which is to increase competition in the market to force prices down. I am not sure that a windfall tax, which I think is what she is proposing, would have the impact that she expects.
Regulatory and Banking Reform
Debate between Mark Hoban and Stella Creasy(12 years, 11 months ago)
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Mr Hoban
I cannot comment on the case my hon. Friend raises, but we have corresponded about it. We need to see better outcomes for consumers of retail financial services. As she may be aware, we are also consulting on the future regulation of consumer credit and will announce our response to the consultation proposals shortly. One of the challenges we face is the disjointed regulation of consumer financial services. Credit, in the situation she raises, is regulated by the Office of Fair Trading, and other aspects of financial services are currently regulated by the Financial Services Authority and, in future, the Financial Conduct Authority. Whatever body is the regulator, we need to see better outcomes for our consumers, which will help to restore the trust in regulation that we all recognise is so vital.
Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)
Further to that point about the powers of the Financial Conduct Authority, will the Minister clarify whether it will have oversight of the consumer credit market, particularly the high-cost credit market, which is a source of concern for many Opposition Members? Perhaps he will take the opportunity to confirm whether the FCA’s powers of intervention could include capping the total cost that lenders can charge for lending where it is detrimental to consumers so that we can deal with the toxicity of the legal loan shark market.