Tag: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-03-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to meet the objectives outlined in the Impact Assessment of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 in relation to in-house lobbyists, specifically increasing the transparency of lobbying by opening it up to public scrutiny and increasing public accountability and public trust in the system of Government.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Transparency of Lobbying Act created a statutory register of lobbyists. The Register has increased transparency by requiring that, for the first time, people who are paid to lobby the Government on behalf of others must disclose their clients on a publicly available register. The statutory Register has also enabled the activities of consultant lobbyists to be more effectively scrutinised by requiring lobbyists to declare whether they subscribe to a code of conduct.

In addition, the Register of consultant lobbyists complements the Government’s existing transparency commitment to regularly publish details of the meetings of Ministers and Permanent Secretaries with external organisations and individuals and tackles the problem that it was not always clear whose interests were being represented by “third-party" or consultant lobbyists.

The Register does not include in-house lobbyists because it is, by definition, clear who they are working for when their details are published in the list of meetings of Ministers and Permanent Secretaries.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-05-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action in respect of the secondary ticketing market has been taken since Chapter 15 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 came into force by (1) the Competition and Markets Authority, and (2) the National Trading Standards Board.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

This information is not held centrally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-09-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the progress made by the eight Competent Authorities recognised as relevant bodies under the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015 and the amending regulations to ensure consistency across their respective jurisdictions.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The Government supports the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to help businesses and consumers save time and money when dealing with complaints. Approved ADR is available for every consumer to trader dispute in the UK.

We have not estimated what proportion of retail businesses have a designated ADR provider as it is open to the retailer to choose a different ADR provider with the necessary skills and experience to deal with a particular dispute.

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute acts as the lead competent authority and has held working groups and individual meetings with the other competent authorities to ensure consistency of approach.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2015-11-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have considered making illegal all odometer adjustment, and enforcing an outright ban on (1) the sale and purchase of odometer adjustment equipment, and (2) companies offering those services.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

I deplore the practice of mileage fraud.

Odometers do go wrong and may be replaced, so there are occasions when adjustment of the odometer is legitimate. To help, consumers mileage is recorded at every MOT test and is available on the certificate and online. Although odometer adjustment is not currently unlawful, the misrepresentation of true mileage to a potential purchaser is illegal under consumer protection legislation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-02-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many charities in receipt of government grant funding were found to be in breach of provisions preventing use of taxpayers’ money for political activity in each of the past three years.

Lord Bridges of Headley

This information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-03-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action is being taken about consultant lobbyists not on the Register of Consultant Lobbyists.

Lord Bridges of Headley

Enforcement is a matter for the independent Registrar who has a duty to monitor compliance. The legislation provides a range of powers and sanctions for the Registrar to use in pursuance of this duty and in dealing with those who will not comply, including both civil and criminal measures.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to respond to the Waterson Review on secondary ticketing published on 26 May, as required by section 94 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and whether that response will be within the two months expected for responses to reports by House of Lords committees.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The Government is considering Professor Waterson’s Review and will publish its response in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-10-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the potential merits of requiring the use of sealed tamper-proof bags for duty-free alcohol sales at airports to prevent excessive drinking on board aircraft.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Government welcomes industry’s commitment to tackling the issue of excessive alcohol consumption in airports and on-board aircraft. The use of tamper-proof bags for duty-free purchases is currently being trialled at a number of UK airports and as part of that trial industry will reach a view on the potential merits of this approach.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2015-11-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they are taking to reduce the rate of odometer mileage fraud and increase conviction rates of those who fraudulently adjust mileage and sell on adjusted vehicles.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Advice on second hand car purchases features regularly in consumer awareness campaigns led by Trading Standards and the Citizen’s Advice Service. Consumers should call the Citizen’s Advice consumer helpline, which receives its funding from Government, for advice on fraud and to report alleged offences of misleading advertising or mis-selling.

The Citizen’s Advice Service will refer clear breaches of consumer law to Trading Standards and advise on reporting suspected fraud to ‘Action Fraud’, the national fraud database led by The City of London Police. ‘Action Fraud’ has received 67 complaints of mileage fraud since 2010 and actively campaigns for more fraud cases to be reported, with viable lines of enquiry, to equip the police to convict the culprits.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-02-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many charities in receipt of government grant funding were found to have engaged in activity intended to influence or attempt to influence Parliament, government, or the European Commission, or attempt to influence legislative or regulatory action, in each of the past three years.

Lord Bridges of Headley

This information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.