Draft Package Travel And Linked Travel Arrangements (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018

John Hayes Excerpts

Tuesday 4th December 2018 General Committees

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Kelly Tolhurst)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hosie. The draft regulations, which were laid before the House on 29 October, will be made under the powers conferred by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. They form part of the wider programme of work to adjust our legislative framework in readiness for leaving the European Union.

If a withdrawal agreement is reached between the UK and the EU, the implementation date of this draft statutory instrument could be changed by any Bill that the Government introduce to implement the withdrawal agreement in UK law. However, it is sensible to prepare for all scenarios, and that is what we are doing by bringing this instrument before the Committee today.

The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 came into force in the UK on 1 July this year. They implemented the European Union’s 2015 package travel directive, and expanded the definition of “package” to ensure that it encompasses modern methods of purchasing package holidays, online in particular. They also created the new concept of linked travel arrangements, which are looser combinations of travel services, and introduced limited protection for consumers who purchase them.

The 2018 regulations require the provision of information to travellers, so that they have clear information about their package holiday or linked travel arrangements and their statutory rights. They also require that organisers put in place adequate insolvency protection to cover the refund of payments made by passengers and, if necessary, their repatriation.

If approved, the draft instrument will make amendments to deal with deficiencies that arise from a possible UK withdrawal from the EU on a no-deal basis. The 2018 regulations implemented the mutual recognition requirement of the EU directive. That requires member states to recognise the insolvency protection put in place by traders under the law of the member state in which they are established. In consequence, the 2018 regulations exempt traders established in other member states from having to comply with UK insolvency protection rules. Upon EU exit, the UK will become a third country, and so will no longer benefit from the mutual recognition provisions of the directive. In consequence, member states will no longer recognise the UK’s insolvency protection under the 2018 regulations.

The draft instrument will remove the exemption that allows European economic area traders to sell in the UK as long as they meet the insolvency protection of the member state in which they are established. If they sell or offer for sale package holidays or linked travel arrangements in the UK, they will be required to comply with UK insolvency protection rules on the same basis as UK traders—and, indeed, traders established anywhere else in the world. That change is necessary, first, to ensure that UK travellers are fully protected by the 2018 regulations if they purchase a package from EU traders that choose to trade within the UK market; and, secondly, to ensure fairness for UK-based traders. EU-based competitors should not have the advantage of an exemption that is no longer reciprocal.

The 2018 regulations also required member states to establish central contact points, the main purpose of which is to facilitate information sharing between member states in relation to insolvency protection. The Civil Aviation Authority is the lead central contact point in the UK. Should the UK leave the EU without a deal, the role of the central contact point would become redundant. The draft instrument will revoke the function of the central contact point to reflect that. It does not affect the Civil Aviation Authority’s other enforcement functions in relation to the 2018 regulations.

The draft instrument will also change the obligations on UK retailers that sell packages put together by a non-UK organiser. Regulation 27 of the 2018 regulations requires UK-established traders selling a package put together by an organiser outside the European economic area to be responsible for the performance of the package. They must meet the insolvency protection obligations of the 2018 regulations, unless they can provide evidence that the organiser complies with those requirements. The draft instrument changes regulation 27, so that this responsibility is placed on UK-established retailers when selling a package put together by any organiser established outside the UK, including organisers established in the EEA. This change is important to ensure that UK travellers purchasing packages combined by EEA established organisers can continue to be confident that they would be protected by adequate insolvency cover in the event of the organiser’s insolvency.

[Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)]

The Minister may be familiar with the role that I played when I was Transport Minister in doing exactly the sort of work and supporting the kinds of businesses that she is talking about. As she will know from the explanatory notes, one of the principal objectives will be to get those kinds of businesses, voluntary bodies and charities, to understand the changes. She is a competent and extremely diligent Minister, so I know that she will want to find means by which the Government can support that growing understanding. Will she agree to make provisions to get the word out among those kinds of businesses about what the changes mean?

[Kelly Tolhurst]

I thank my right hon. Friend for that point. If the draft statutory instrument is agreed to, and we move into a no-deal situation in which this piece of legislation is required, the Government are committed, as we have always made clear, to ensuring that consumers’ rights are protected. We are and will continue working with the industry, and with consumer representative bodies, to make sure that consumers are aware of what they need to be looking at, and that businesses operating in this area make sure that people are fully aware of the consequences of the draft instrument.

Finally, the draft instrument makes other technical changes to deal with references to EU legislation, for instance replacing references to EU directives with references to the relevant saved domestic legislation. Importantly, the instrument does not otherwise change the 2018 regulations, so that after EU exit, travellers will continue to benefit from all the protections in those regulations. Officials from the Department have undertaken the appropriate assessment of the impacts of the draft instrument. That has shown that there is likely to be a small impact on business in cases where UK businesses have to provide the relevant insolvency insurance.

The draft instrument is a sensible and necessary use of the powers of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 that will ensure that our consumer law continues to function effectively on exit day. I commend the regulations to the Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[Chi Onwurah]

Our commitments are to comprehensive investment in our public services and our infrastructure, and to strengthening consumer rights and protections. I will not go through every line of funding in our first Budget as a Labour Government, because I am not in a position to do that. However, I am in a position to say categorically that we would not have indulged in the failed economic policy of austerity, which has cut our public services while also giving us the lowest economic growth within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the second lowest within the European Union. If that is successful economic investment, then I think the right hon. Gentleman has a lot to learn about a successful economic policy.

[Sir John Hayes]

Might I be helpful? I realise that I cannot match the assertiveness of my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon, but this seems to be less about trading standards than about the way in which people book holidays. When I looked at these matters as a Minister, as I mentioned earlier, it became clear that the regime that has prevailed for some time was based on the fact that most people booked their holiday through a supplier, as a package. Increasingly, people construct their holiday by a variety of means, including through the internet. There is a reasonable point to be made about this being a dynamic sector that requires a moving regulatory environment.

When I challenged the Minister on this, she very helpfully committed—I thought she would—to providing information to all those bodies associated with that highly dynamic part of the market, as the explanatory note implied that we should. I am not putting words into the mouth of the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central, but a more telling critique would be about that, rather than taking this more conventional approach around trading standards.

[Chi Onwurah]

I hesitate to disagree with the right hon. Gentleman, who is so well informed in many areas, but as I said in my opening remarks, while it is absolutely true that consumer behaviour has changed in terms of how holidays are booked, that does not mean that the need for protection and for trading standards has reduced. For example, if we look at how crime has moved from the high street to the virtual high street, then some might argue that there was a greater need for trading standards and for protection of consumers. While I take the point that any consumer protection regime needs to reflect consumer behaviours, I do not think that that in any way reduces the need for trading standards bodies to have the proper resources.

[Sir John Hayes]

rose—

[The Chair]

Order. Before the hon. Gentleman makes another intervention, the statutory instrument is very narrow; it is about package travel and linked travel arrangements, not about trading standards. If you stuck to the statutory instrument, I would be very grateful indeed.

[Sir John Hayes]

I am always guided by your wisdom, Mr Hosie. The point is that this is a complex area. The hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central is right that trading standards matter, but that is not all that matters. The Minister has made it clear that she is determined to make sure that information is provided to the businesses, voluntary organisations and charities that are likely to be affected, in exactly the way that I requested.

[Chi Onwurah]

Thank you for your advice, Mr Hosie. Let me reflect the right hon. Gentleman’s point and ask the Minister specifically what assurance she will make to resource British trading standards adequately to reflect additional workload. Assurances are very well, but it takes resource and funding to make them into reality. What resources will she put behind the information and communication campaign that she has apparently committed to in this debate?