Service charge Bill gets rough reception

The Private Member's Bill brought by the Earl of Bradford to abolish service charges is unlikely to reach report stage following its rocky ride at committee stage in the House of Commons last week.

Lord Fraser, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) minister, once again underlined the Government's opposition to the Bill. Labour's front bench is also opposed to it.

Following the committee, the Earl of Bradford said there was a broad consensus that the present situation regarding service charges was imperfect. However, there was little agreement on how to make improvements, he said.

Lord Bradford now intends to delay the report stage of the Bill until he has heard from the DTI regarding a voluntary code of practice.

Lord Thurso, who opposed the Bill at its second reading, had an amendment accepted stopping tips and gratuities being banned by the Bill.