Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what representations he has received on requiring companies using continuous payment authorities to contact customers in advance of the automatic renewal date to provide the option to cancel.

The Department has received representations regarding companies using continuous payment authorities. In the Consumer Green Paper, ‘Modernising Consumer Markets’ published last year, the Government announced that it had asked the Consumer Protection Partnership to assess the issues with subscriptions and to recommend any further actions needed. The Government is considering the advice received and will publish a White Paper in due course.