As I explained to you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I hope to take part in business elsewhere in the Palace this afternoon. I apologise to hon. Members if I miss part of the debate. I hope that, with the leave of the House, that will be acceptable.

I congratulate the Chairman, my hon. Friend the Member for Dumbarton (Mr. McFall), and members of the Committee not only on their work in producing the report but, more generally, on scrutinising and holding to account the financial services industry, the Government and the regulators in the interests of the consumer. They have done so continuously and in a hard-hitting and incisive way, which is particularly important when decisions are required but the complexity of the issues obscures the essential points. Of course, many in the field are quite happy to obfuscate and to prevent us from focusing on the issues that require attention.

The effectiveness of the Committee's work is shown by the voluntary response that the financial services industry has already made to some of its recommendations. Like other hon. Members in the Chamber, I have often criticised practices in the industry, and it is only right that I should recognise the changes that it has made. I agree that the introduction—it has been slow, but it is nevertheless on the way—of the summary box and of proposals for a health warning have been made in recognition of the Committee's work.

As members of the Committee have said, the Government, the regulators and Parliament need to do much more to maintain pressure on the industry to act in the interests of the consumer. I welcome the Chairman's promise—hopefully it was not a threat—that the Committee would continue to take a close interest in the issue to see whether its recommendations were put into effect.

I endorse the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for Warwick and Leamington (Mr. Plaskitt) about credit card cheques. I am grateful to him, as I am sure the entire Chamber is, for sharing with us in a detailed exposé the material that he received about credit card cheques. Like him, I have come to the view that there is no way in which their marketing can be made acceptable. However one looks at the issue, the convenience to the customer on some rare occasions is vastly outweighed by the fact that such cheques encourage customers to extend their borrowing without fully appreciating the higher interest rates that they will incur. On those occasions when it might be appropriate to seek credit for a purchase, there will almost certainly be a better way of securing it than by means of a credit card cheque.

My hon. Friend gave the example of the offer that he received from Alliance and Leicester, and many other examples could be brought into the debate. Like many hon. Members, I received a briefing from Citizens Advice about the subject of today's debate. It drew attention to one of its clients, who had been sent a £200 credit card cheque with a letter advising him that the cheque was a "great way" to give his finances a boost and that all he needed to do was sign and date it and pay it into his bank account. What a great way to give one's finances a boost—borrowing money at perhaps 30 per cent. interest and putting it into a bank account that pays nothing like 30 per cent., but only half of 1 per cent., or slightly more if one is lucky.

Marketing material that relatives of mine received suggested that credit card cheques would be an ideal way of paying for a Christmas present or providing holiday cash. As one can well imagine, it would not be sensible for all but the smallest fraction of the consumer market to use a credit card cheque in that way. There is therefore a strong argument for saying that such cheques should simply not be allowed. On the assumption that the industry would not adopt such a proposal voluntarily, the regulators and the Government will have to consider ways of ensuring that change is brought about.

The comments about store cards were also well made in the report, and I welcome the points made by the Chairman of the Committee and my hon. Friend the Member for Warwick and Leamington. Like them, I welcome the OFT investigation. I shall not repeat the points made about store cards, but in the briefings that I have had from consumer organisations, including Money Advice Scotland, store cards were identified as a particular problem. Like other Members present today, I have had personal experience of being offered such cards in a way that did not seem to give me full information about the costs that I would have incurred if I had been so foolish as to accept the offer.

One problem in the industry is that when a particular avenue is closed off by regulators, public opinion or another factor that influences companies' behaviour, there is a temptation to go along another road to try to extract money from the unwitting consumer. To some extent, that is true of business in general and will always happen. However, institutions, including major high street names with an international presence, should change their attitude, as well as individual practices, if we are to reach a situation in which they do not see the consumer as the legitimate subject of a rip-off, even if it is legally acceptable. They must change their approach, and like my hon. Friend the Member for Warwick and Leamington, I believe that statutory regulation is needed to encourage a voluntary response.

One example of how some sections of industry can change their behaviour to take advantage of new opportunities was drawn to my attention in the briefing from Money Advice Scotland. It was concerned by what it described as

"the direct targeting of people in airports, who are clearly there for another purpose, i.e. to travel."

It said that it had witnessed some "heavy sales tactics" at airports, in which sales representatives approach people on their way to flights to ask them to sign up for credit cards. The would-be customer may have been travelling for some hours to get to the airport and may be about to fly. Money Advice Scotland's view is that

"there is insufficient importance paid to the fact that this will be a purchase of credit. It is made look too easy".

In many cases, there is an added incentive of receiving a free gift. People are told that if they sign up for a credit card on their way to their holiday, they can have extra money to spend and also get a free wallet, pen or filofax. In such circumstances, people are not on equal terms with the representatives who are trying to offer credit. We would not allow such a sales technique in airports or railways for other professional services, so it must be challenged. It also indicates how regulators have to move quickly to deal with new practices as they develop.

In the report, the Committee notes that

"the evidence indicates that the majority of households still deal with debt in a responsible manner and avoid becoming over-committed".

As the Government acknowledge in their response, the general level of indebtedness has not increased substantially as a proportion of the gross incomes of the population. It is wrong to overstate the "nation in debt" line that is sometimes pedalled by the media and by Opposition parties.

Mr. Sutcliffe : I am sorry to spoil the flow of my hon. Friend's contribution. He is making a key point about disposable income, and the proportion of it that is spent on debt. My figures show that 7.1 per cent. of disposable income is now spent on interest payments, compared with a high of 15 per cent. in 1990. It will be clear later why I have made that point.

Mr. Lazarowicz : I am grateful to my hon. Friend for those figures, which underline the Government's economic record. It is important to make the point that, although is not a general problem for the country, over-indebtedness can be a great problem for the minority who are particularly vulnerable or who are affected by problems of debt. As we have heard today those can be very great in individual cases, many of which have arisen from, or been exacerbated by, the marketing and other business practices of lenders.

The report is about the transparency of credit card charges. That is one element of the solution to the problems that it highlights. Equally important is the drive for greater financial literacy. That is the flavour of the month, as it should be. I welcome the support of the industry and the Government in that regard. However, the Select Committee makes a valuable point when it urges the industry to increase its support for the work of citizens advice bureaux and other free money advice services. That is essential, and I know that the Government are taking suitable steps. I qualify my support by observing that, while providing a wide range of advice, we must ensure that there are not so many sources of advice that nobody knows where to go. The various services have to be co-ordinated.

We must bear in mind, as well as transparency, education and financial literacy, the barrage of publicity and marketing affecting every consumer. The industry must change its lending practices and its attitude. Above all, we need an effective and up-to-date regulatory framework. Not only must it allow us to deal with the cases that have been highlighted here and in the reports of interested groups in recent years, but it must be fast enough moving to deal with new practices and behaviour that, unless challenged at the start, will trap millions of people in unfair credit arrangements. We have all seen examples of such things in our constituencies.

I welcome the White Paper on consumer credit and urge the Government to ensure that primary legislation and the regulations necessary to put it into effect will be introduced as soon as possible. Millions of consumers cannot wait much longer.