Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission's 2015 Joint Consultation Paper, Unfair Terms in Contracts?, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recommendations made in that Paper on protecting small businesses from unfair contract clauses.

Following the joint consultation paper, the Department held two calls for evidence relating to the protection of small business when buying goods and services. As a result, it has decided not to intervene in the contractual relations agreed between businesses outside of certain sectors such as groceries and pubs. The second call for evidence led to the establishment of the Small Business Commissioner by the Department.