Digital Economy Bill (Fifth sitting)

Drew Hendry Excerpts

Committee Debate: 5th sitting: House of Commons
Thursday 20th October 2016 Public Bill Committees

[The Chair]

I remind the Committee that with this we are discussing the following:

Amendment 84, in clause 3, page 2, line 35, after “obligation”, add “within reasonable timescales” insert”.

New clause 2—Ability of end-user to cancel telephone contract in event of lack of signal at residence—

‘A telecommunications service provider must allow an end-user to cancel a contract relating to a hand-held mobile telephone if, at any point during the contract term, the mobile telephones is consistently unable to obtain a signal when located at the end-user’s main residence.’

[Drew Hendry (Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey) (SNP)]

I will not repeat the comments I made previously, but I want to focus again on new clause 2. I was explaining that consumers often face an impossible position. I gave an example from my constituency of something that happens around the UK. Indeed, uSwitch produced a report this morning that shows that across the UK nearly a third of consumers have either patchy or no signal inside their home, which is a real deficit in the product that they thought they were buying. Some of that will be down to there being no reasonable coverage in the area, and some of it will be down to other factors, but it is often down to a failure of the telecoms company that provides the service.

I will repeat the example that I gave from my constituency, because I think it is important. In Fort Augustus, my constituents had to do without their mobile telephones between January and May 2015, even though they had contracts, because the operator could not fix a problem. They were told that the only way to deal with that was to pay £200 to cancel the contract. That is flatly unacceptable. I have listened carefully to what has been said this morning; the Government stated clearly that they want to make the Bill as good as it can be, so let us make sure that we put in the new clause.

I first raised this issue with the UK Government in July 2015, and I was told at that time that there was merit in what I was saying. Ofcom accepted that, and said that it, too, felt that something should be done. The Minister’s predecessor, the right hon. Member for Wantage (Mr Vaizey), said in November 2015:

“We have a number of principles when we look at this market. One is that consumers should not be trapped in contracts in which they are not getting the coverage they expected to get. Ofcom is discussing with mobile providers the possibility of their offering redress, which would include allowing customers to leave a contract when service was unacceptable.”—[Official Report, 24 November 2015; Vol. 602, c. 1335.]

Let us please ensure that we do something about that, and put the new clause into the Bill.

[Matt Hancock]

The clause is all about making it easier for customers to claim compensation for service failures. This is all part of the fact that broadband is now a utility rather than a “nice to have”. Amendment 60 seeks to make it explicit that Ofcom can set general conditions to require communication providers to allow an end user to terminate a contract when a service repeatedly fails. New clause 2, which we have just been talking about, would specify that consumers can terminate a contract if mobile coverage is substandard at the main residence. There are already a number of options available to consumers who wish to cancel a contract due to poor coverage or connection, and we do not think that those additional options are necessary.

Before purchasing a contract, consumers can use Ofcom’s coverage checker, and if a contract is purchased online or over the phone, and the consumer finds that the coverage is a problem, they can cancel during the statutory cooling-off period—the first 14 days. Some companies offer extended periods, such as a 30-day network guarantee, during which customers can test the coverage and, should they be dissatisfied, cancel without penalty. Customers are entitled to leave a contract if they are mis-sold a service—if they are advised that they would get coverage in a certain location, but subsequently discover that they cannot.

[Drew Hendry]

I am listening carefully to the Minister. Those protections are important, and if somebody is mis-sold a product at the point of sale, a cooling-off period is valuable. However, the Minister is not addressing situations such as that in the Fort Augustus example that I gave. The people who got that contract were not able to get the service after the cooling-off period. That is happening across the UK.

[Matt Hancock]

It is reasonable that the period in which people can cancel be limited, because companies have to know, once they have entered into a contract, that it is valid. I think that the way that is done currently, through cooling-off periods, is appropriate. There is also a broadband speed code of practice, which is about the speed that people get. As of the end of September, seven providers have implemented the business broadband speeds code of practice, which allows business customers to exit a contract without penalty if download speeds are not at the guaranteed minimum.

[Drew Hendry]

I hear very clearly what the Minister says, but this is about people who have bought into mobile contracts and are not able to get coverage. Does the Minister think it is acceptable that somebody who is without a service for four months has to pay £200 to cancel their contract?

[Matt Hancock]

No, I do not, but I do think it is useful for the period in which contracts can be cancelled to be limited. The law currently provides for that.

Amendment 84 seeks to define the parameters of any general condition that Ofcom sets regarding compensation to customers. It is our intention that providers should offer prompt and proportionate compensation when their services do not meet agreed standards. It is right that any decision by Ofcom to set general conditions needs to be based on evidence drawn from its consultation process and applied proportionately. In June, Ofcom issued a call for input on the aim and scope of the automatic compensation scheme, and it will consult on the introduction of the regime in early 2017. We support Ofcom in that approach. I think that the way the clause is drafted is the right way to drive the policy, but until we have the benefit of Ofcom’s consultation, it would be wrong to constrain the parameters of a general compensation condition.

With that explanation, and given my point that there is already a time-limited period in which contracts can be cancelled, I hope that hon. Members will withdraw their amendments.