Stop Press: 6pm Friday 2 February 2001 The Outworking Bill has been thrown out and will not go forward. More Thank you to everyone for your help.

A Private Members Bill, aimed at stamping out the bogus homeworking schemes that have blighted the lives of thousands of people across the country, is to have its second reading on Friday 2 February 2001.

For this Bill to stand a chance of becoming law it needs to have at least 100 MPs present on 2 February to vote for it. Write to your own MP now and ask them to 'please support the Outworking Bill by being present at the Second Reading on the 2nd Feb'. If you do that you will be helping to outlaw scams in the UK.

In brief the Bill will:

• Make it a criminal offence to seek payment in advance for the provision of homework or directories containing so called homeworking opportunities

• Outlaw the advertisement of such schemes and directories

• Give Trading Standards Officers the powers to crack down on these schemes quickly and effectively

• Introduce criminal penalties and fines of up to £5000 for each separate offence.

You can read the Press Releases in full on this site here and here.

The wording of the Outworking Bill can be found at www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200001/cmbills/011/2001011.htm

How to contact your MP

Either:

• Telephone 0207 219 6767 to find out the name of your MP and write to her/him at
  House of Commons
  London
  SW1A 0AA
  

• Fax your MP www.faxyourmp.com/ All you do is type in your postcode which automatically searches for your MP. You then write your message and then it is emailed to you. You must acknowledge the email to confirm you are the sender of the message and then your fax will be sent. Simple as that. Read the guidelines on the FaxYourMP site.

• Use the Constituency Locata to find out which constituency you are in, who your local MP is, and in which constituency a particular MP sits.

• You could try emailing your MP but be aware that UK MPs may not treat emails as well as letters or faxes. See if your MP has email at www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/almsad.htm The email is sent using an online form.

• Try Webminster at www.webpolitix.com for mini websites and contact details for MPs.

What should I write?

Do not send a copied and pasted letter - these are not taken seriously! The main thing you need to say is 'please support the Outworking Bill by being present at the Second Reading on Friday 2nd February 2001'. It is important that you personalise your letter and maybe share what you think of homeworking scams. You are welcome to read what the Editor of this site has written to her MP.

Why isn't this called a Homeworking Bill?

The Bill is called the Outworking Bill rather than the Homeworking Bill because the lawyers wanted to make sure that the scams couldn't get away with operating from another venue (i.e. not your home but a rented shed or something!).

What next?

Go to our Forum to the News and Media section where you will find a thread on this Bill. Tell everyone that you have written to your MP - that will encourage others to also make the effort. Or email Caroline Tresman and she will add your name to the Forum. Homeworking.com will update the discussion thread in the Forum with news on the development of this very important Bill. Thank you for helping :-)

Write to you MP now and outlaw scams in the UK