Consumer Focus is the statutory organisation campaigning for a fair deal for consumers in England, Wales, Scotland, and, for postal services, Northern Ireland.
Advice for individuals on energy and post is given by Consumer Direct (08454 04 05 06).
We will be the voice of the consumer, and work to secure a fair deal on their behalf. We were created through the merger of three consumer organisations – energywatch, Postwatch and the National Consumer Council (including the Welsh and Scottish Consumer Councils). The new approach allows for more joined-up consumer advocacy, with a single organisation speaking with a powerful voice and able to more readily bring cross-sector expertise to issues of concern.
We’re just getting started. Our priority at this early stage is to get the right staff in place, to lay the groundwork for achieving the aims set out in Work Plan (PDF 1136kb), and to strengthen our relationships with our key partner organisations and individuals. It will take time for us to fully establish the organisation, but we’ve already made considerable progress towards the aims set out in our Forward Work Plan. We have also been working to strengthen our relationships with our key partner organisations and individuals.
Consumer Focus has strong new legislative powers. These include the right to investigate any consumer complaint if they are of wider interest, the right to open up information from providers, the power to conduct research and the ability to make an official super-complaint about failing services.
We are well-resourced to use these powers and campaign on the issues that matter most to consumers. In fact, with 170 staff, we’re the largest and the best-resourced advocacy body in the history of the UK consumer movement.
We are not an advice agency nor are we a statutory regulator. Other bodies such as Consumer Direct, Citizens Advice, local authority trading standards and the Office of Fair Trading play these roles.
Download: Annual Report and Accounts 2008-09 (3049 KB)
Download: Who we are, what we do (334 KB)
Download: Forward Work Programme to March 2010 (1136 KB)