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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what (a) recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of UK consumer protections and (b) steps he will take to protect consumers from unscrupulous companies through public reviews and complaints.

The Government consulted in July 2021 on a number of proposals concerning consumer protection law. The Government’s response was published recently, and set out our approach to ensuring consumers are supported with a robust set of rights. It can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/reforming-competition-and-consumer-policy/outcome/reforming-competition-and-consumer-policy-government-response.

In particular, the Government will consult in due course on adding fake reviews to the list of banned practices – giving greater clarity to business on the current law and, where fake reviews are posted, allowing enforcers to take effective action quickly.