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Confident Consumers

I draw the attention of the House to my declarations in the Register of Members’ Interests, particularly as a director of AJWB Travel Ltd. It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine (Sir Robert Smith), who made some powerful points. I shall deal with some that he did not mention. The debate is entitled ““Creating confident consumers”” and we could probably discuss such an enormous subject until midnight. Introducing the debate, the Minister had a go at the Conservative manifesto, when he said that we would drastically cut back the Department of Trade and Industry. As I understand it, unless he has changed his mind, the Department’s numbers are to be cut by 30 per cent. If we are trying to create confident consumers and increasing protection, will the Department have the resources to do it? Perhaps the Minister could deal with that when he winds up. We speak of consumer confidence as though it applies to the private sector. Of course, it is equally important in the public sector, and that has not been discussed today. Children are perhaps the most vulnerable consumers. They are consumers of education, and they have the right to be confident that they are safe where they are being taught, yet the Minister could not give me an assurance that all future schools would be protected by sprinkler systems. That would protect consumers and build confidence. One of the problems may be that the Government are prepared to undertake prevention, but not reaction. However, the topic may not be entirely germane to the debate.