asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he will now take to provide improved consumer protection in general and to improve after-sales service in particular.

It is the Government's announced intention to introduce legislation to strengthen the protection given to the consumer by the Sale of Goods Act. If the civil or criminal law is shown to be defective in other respects relevant to the consumer's protection, I will gladly consider improving it; but in a competitive economy the standard of after-sales service is a matter which must primarily depend on the good commercial sense of the businesses concerned.