12. To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps he is taking to prevent unscrupulous lending practices. (179533)

In 2004 we established two pilot enforcement teams in Birmingham and Glasgow to track down and prosecute illegal money lenders, who were exploiting some of the most vulnerable members of our communities.

Following the success of these pilots I announced in September a national expansion this crack down on illegal lending and there is now a team covering every region of Britain.