Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has made provision for (a) familiarisation costs and (b) other transition costs to help ensure Citizens Advice can answer queries on the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
My department works very closely with Citizens Advice, providing funding on behalf of all Whitehall departments and the Welsh Government to support the provision of advice and advocacy including consumer. We are providing total funding of £44 million in the current financial year. We were also able to provide an additional one-off uplift of £3 million at the end of the previous financial year and will continue to work closely with Citizens Advice on their priorities and resources as the current year progresses.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to ensure trading standards representatives can access the information from (a) companies and (b) individuals they need.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
Schedule 5 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 provides Trading Standards and other enforcers a power to request information by notice from any person – this includes requesting information from firms and individuals.
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill further strengthens these powers by adding provision for the imposition of penalties for non-compliance with an information request.