Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of prohibiting the sale of tickets for events at a sum greater than their face value.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to cracking down on unacceptable behaviour in the ticketing market and improving people’s chances of buying tickets at a reasonable price. That is why we have strengthened the law on ticketing information requirements and introduced a criminal offence of using automated software to buy more tickets online than allowed. Ticketing sites can help fans buy and resell tickets, but they must comply with the law and should never be used as a platform for breaking it.
Enforcement agencies such as the Competition and Markets Authority, National Trading Standards and the advertising industry's own regulator, the Advertising Standards Authority, have a track record of investigating breaches of consumer law and improving transparency in the ticketing market, and are prepared to go after those who flout the law or abuse the ticketing market. The recent conviction of ticket touts for the unlawful mass reselling of Ed Sheeran tickets at inflated prices and obtained by fraudulent means, is just one example.
We do not believe that price capping is an appropriate solution at this time, as experience in other markets has shown that it would not be an effective tool to address the problem at hand, and would present significant practical challenges in implementation and enforcement. Individuals are able to seek advice or report problems with goods or services bought from a trader based in the UK, and the appropriate advice agency is the Citizens Advice Consumer Service.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will increase the funding available for National Trading Standards investigations into secondary ticket abuse.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government is committed to tackling fraudulent practices in secondary ticketing. The department works closely with National Trading Standards to ensure they have adequate funding to tackle consumer detriment in the secondary ticketing market.
As a result of this work, earlier this month two individuals from London were found guilty of fraudulently and dishonestly buying and reselling tickets for high-profile music and entertainment events. They have now been sentenced to a combined six and a half years in jail. This landmark case marks the first successful prosecution against the fraudulent reselling of tickets on a large scale. This is directly a result of the work of National Trading Standards, North Yorkshire County Council, and City of York Council.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to tackle ticket-touting in sport.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
We are committed to cracking down on unacceptable behaviour in the ticketing market and improving fans’ chances of buying tickets at a reasonable price. We have strengthened the existing ticketing information requirement in the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and have introduced a new criminal offence of using automated software to buy more tickets online than that allowed.
We support the work of enforcement agencies in this area, such as the Competition and Markets Authority, National Trading Standards, and the advertising industry's own regulator, the Advertising Standards Authority.
Recent announcements of enforcement action by these agencies demonstrate that we are prepared to go after those who flout the law or abuse the ticketing market.
Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect consumers from abuse of the secondary ticket market; and whether they intend to introduce a regulatory regime for that market, including the establishment of an appropriate regulatory authority.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Government appointed Professor Waterson in 2015 to review consumer protections in the secondary ticketing market. He produced his report last year and in March 2017 the Government responded accepting his report in full and included amendments to the Digital Economy Act designed to enhance protections further.
The Government has no plans at this time to introduce additional legislation.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will discuss with Virgin Trains the extent to which its franchise agreement permits differentiation in ticket pricing for similar journeys to end from (a) Preston and (b) Lancaster stations.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Regular meetings are held with the Franchisee (Virgin Trains West Coast) to discuss various matters including management and monitoring of fares regulation through the Franchise Agreement.
The Franchise Agreement sets out the terms of fares both regulated and un-regulated.
The Government regulates the existence and price of certain rail fares. Through fares regulation the Government aims to strike an appropriate balance between protecting passengers from possible market abuse and allowing train operators scope for innovation.
For unregulated fares Virgin can apply different peak/off-peak restrictions on a long distance route and they can segment the train journey according to market conditions. Unregulated fares include the lower cost Advance purchase fares which have been introduced by a number of operators. This has helped to make some leisure travel services significantly cheaper for passengers who are able to book ahead and commit themselves to travelling on a specific departure, this has also assisted with improved train occupancy.
Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in line with the statutory objective set out in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 to set up an enquiry in order to publish a report on the operation of the secondary market for tickets within a year of Royal Assent to that Act, they have decided on the membership of the Review Group and its terms of reference; and whether they have consulted the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Ticket Abuse.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government is finalising the leadership of the Review and its Terms of Reference following input from stakeholders. The All-Party Parliamentary Group will be invited to submit evidence to the Review once the Chair has been appointed and approved the Terms of Reference.