Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the finding by the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice that payday loan advertisements are not aimed at encouraging children to ask their parents to take out a loan, and whether they plan to consult parents, psychologists and educationalists working with children about this issue.

The Government is concerned about consumer detriment in the payday loan market, and agrees it is important that consumers are protected from unfair costs. We therefore legislated to require the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) to introduce a cap on the cost of payday loans, which came into force on the 2nd January this year.

We believe BCAP's review of payday loan advertising provides a good evidence base to ensure that consumers are protected from harm in the payday lending market. We welcome the revised guidance to advertisers produced in response to this review, to help ensure that both adults and children are protected, together with BCAPs' public consultation on scheduling to be launched by the end of July. There are no plans to carry out a separate Government consultation on this matter.