(Parliamentary Under
Secretary of State for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate
Responsibility): Today, I am publishing the
Statutory Report on the Objectives of Consumer Contracts
(Information, Cancellations and Additional Charges) Regulations
2013. This report sets out the conclusions of the review of these
Regulations.
A key foundation of our modern Industrial Strategy is delivering
a strong, transparent and attractive business environment in the
UK. The strength of the UK’s business environment is founded on
our fair and open regulatory frameworks. For our regulatory
frameworks to remain fair and open, they must meet the
ever-changing needs of the modern consumer, the modern business,
and the modern world.
There is often an imbalance of power between businesses and
consumers, these Regulations were intended to empower consumers
and create a fairer balance between the two. This was to be
achieved by increasing transparency surrounding contracts they
are entering into and give them the time to understand the
product and consider its price before deciding to enter the
contract, building consumer confidence and willingness to trade
remotely in the process.
The Regulations also implement the EU Consumer Rights Directive,
an obligation we are committed to meeting under the single
market. But the UK has a strong history of protecting consumer
rights, this is achieved not by the creation of new legislation
and its enforcement but always seeking to understand whether, and
how well, we achieve our underlying objectives. This report will
set out objectives intended to be achieved by the Regulations,
assess the extent to which those objectives have been achieved,
assess whether those objectives remain appropriate, and, if so,
the extent to which they could be achieved in a way that imposes
less regulation.
As part of the review, we made the Call for Evidence, which ran
from 7 March to 1 May 2019. We are acutely aware of some of the
issues highlighted by the response, such as the challenge of
consistent enforcement. The Government’s Consumer White Paper
will set out our proposals for the next phase of action to
strengthen the consumer regime and will be the vehicle through
which the government considers this, and a range of other issues
not addressed within this report. The Government’s Consumer White
Paper is due to be published later this year.
Overall, it was the expressed view that the Regulations continue
to meet the objectives for which they were established and that
these remain appropriate five years on from them coming into
force. Following comments we will, however, be reviewing the
existing guidance to ensure that it is sufficiently clear to
support the Regulations.
