Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Simon Hughes (Liberal Democrat). It was answered on Thursday, 19 October 2006 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Personal Debt

Question: Let me say without qualification that the interest and initiatives of the Department of Trade and Industry and the Treasury in this respect are welcome. Given that there is now a record £1.3 trillion of personal debt in this country, however, will the Minister ensure that his Department conducts a review of credit card charges? Two years ago, both the Trade and Industry Select Committee and the Treasury Select Committee, as well as the DTI, said that although good steps had been taken, much more needed to be done to protect people from being ripped off by small print that they do not understand or by charges that they have not been alerted to.

Answer: I thank the hon. Gentleman for his very fair comments. I will write to him on this matter, because I have taken up this issue with representatives of the industry and I am having discussions with them now. I will come back to the hon. Gentleman and the House with further information, following the conclusion of those discussions.

Secondary information