Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch Excerpts

Report stage
Wednesday 13th March 2024 Lords Chamber

The amendments I put down are pretty self-explanatory, and I hope the Minister will respond.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

My Lords, I hope that I too can be brief. When we discussed the provisions on subscription contracts in Committee, there were a number of concerns raised about the original wording. There was, at the time, a recognition that some consumers were being trapped into subscription contracts from which they could not easily withdraw. There was a further issue of subscription auto-renewing without people realising, which cost individuals an estimated £500 million a year.

However, against that, there was a strong case made for the many regular subscriptions for the goods and services which were genuinely wanted and loved, and for the many other subscriptions to good causes and charities on which those organisations depended. There was a growing consensus among noble Lords that we had not got that balance right, so I am very pleased that the Minister has listened and engaged with these concerns and we are pleased with the Government’s amendments now tabled.

First, we welcome the decision to exclude micro-entities, such as milkmen and farm shops, from the provisions.

Secondly, it is helpful that the new amendments clarify the way that consumers should notify the business that they wish to end a contract. We would have welcomed a clearer provision for a simple on/off toggle button to end subscriptions; we hope that the Government will keep that option under review.

Thirdly, we welcome the new government proposals to prevent binge-watching of digital content for free during the cooling-off period. The noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, has further amendments on this issue which provide helpful clarification on those outstanding issues. I hope the Minister can provide some reassurance that these issues will be kept under review.

We are pleased that the Government have addressed the very real concerns from the charity sector that gift aid claims would be lost under the new regulations. The Government have explained that this requires a change to the Treasury regulations and have given an assurance that these changes will be implemented before this section of the Bill comes into force in October 2025. I pay tribute to the persistence shown by the noble Lord, Lord Mendoza, in trying to resolve this issue, which we have been pleased to support. His Amendment 126 pursues this issue, and I know that there are many in the charity sector who would like further clarity and certainty on how those assurances can be delivered in practice. I was pleased to hear from the Minister that they will be subject to further engagement with stakeholders to get this right, and I think that is the way forward.

The amendments proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, helpfully set out a route that could be taken to bring about a successful resolution, and I hope the Minister can confirm that those principles will underlie any ongoing discussions.

Finally, Amendment 127 from the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, raises the need for reminder notices to be prominent in any correspondence, and we very much support the intent behind his amendment. We hope the Minister will feel able to give the reassurances that the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, seeks, that these issues will be addressed.

Overall, the provision in the Bill has made good progress, but it is not the end of the matter. I hope the Minister can assure us that the operation of these changes will be kept under review and, if necessary, brought back to the House for further attention. I look forward to the Minister’s response.