Consumer Focus Blog
Welcome to our blog, a space to let you know what we’re up to and share our views and ideas on consumer issues.
From you switch to we switch
2 May 2012
Today we published Get it, together – the case for collective switching in the age of connected consumers. This report argues that a collective approach to switching can improve consumers’ experience of the energy, financial services and telecoms markets.
The people who created these markets shared a common expectation that by giving consumers choice they would drive competition. By seeking out and switching to better deals in sufficient numbers and with sufficient frequency, consumers would realise the benefits of competition – namely better value, better service and innovation.
Open data: What does it mean for you?
1 May 2012
Making data freely available for everyone to use presents many opportunities. It can support organisations working for change by providing high-quality, accessible information. It can support advice and advocacy organisations delivering services, and, perhaps most importantly, through the delivery of digital applications it can support individuals directly. For example open data has been used to create map and public transport apps.
Time for a fair remuneration of artists across borders?
19 April 2012
Last Thursday Consumer Focus, along with the Norwegian consumer council and the French consumer association, joined artists and small collecting societies in the European Parliament to discuss how copyright licensing on a collective basis can benefit artists. At the ‘Towards the reform of collective rights management: Time for a fair remuneration of artists’ conference, organised by the Greens/European Free Alliance, panellists discussed how the forthcoming Directive on collective rights management could ensure fairer pay for artists whose works are licensed to radio stations, pubs, online services and the like.
New ‘Digital Engagement Cookbook’ website serves up recipes for effective consumer empowerment
17 April 2012
I’m delighted to introduce our new website – the Digital Engagement Cookbook. It’s to help local authorities, charities, retailers, service providers and campaign groups, among others, to explore the new opportunities that the digital world offers for engaging and empowering citizens and consumers. Digital tools and channels are an increasingly essential way of engaging citizens and consumers, and helping them to mobilise around an issue or make more informed decisions.
What next for localism?
29 March 2012
We’ve now got a Localism Act, we’ve heard about the Big Society, and we have plenty of participation theory to study or debate. But what does it all add up to? What does the Act change? What do we need to do differently?
Not a lot, according to the experts that we brought together this month for a workshop in central London. It is more about building on what we’ve already done rather than changing what we do.
Open data: From broadcast to conversation
27 March 2012
When we held our workshop; From broadcast to conversation, last week, it was the culmination of an incredible journey through the open data landscape. At Consumer Focus we went from relative novices to ‘so-called’ experts in the space of a few months. We began last year talking to Passenger Focus and developers about open data in transport and it soon became apparent that we weren’t the only ones undertaking this journey; as the government opens up more and more data, more and diverse organisations are drawn in by the potential open data has to transform the way people access services and view democratic accountability.
Consumers’ and creators’ common ground on copyright
1 March 2012
Our recent event on copyright turned out to be a thought-provoking day with a busy agenda. Consumer Focus and the Creators’ Rights Alliance brought consumers and creators together to discuss: copyright exceptions – which allow work to be reused without the copyright owner’s permission; ‘orphan works’ – where the copyright owner can’t be found after a diligent search; and copyright licensing – how to ensure that creators get a fair share of what consumers pay for copyright protected content.
Carbon taxes can make homes warm
27 February 2012
Around £4 billion a year will be collected in carbon taxes from companies over the next 15 years. The organisers of a new campaign, supported by Consumer Focus – called the Energy Bill Revolution – think the money should be spent by the Government on making homes more energy efficient. The campaign supporters want everyone to sign a petition on its website – www.energybillrevolution.org – to ignite support for this move.
Who should pay for affordable, secure and sustainable energy?
23 February 2012
We organised consumer workshops in Reading and Cardiff about energy infrastructure and the support for low-income vulnerable households such as pensioners last weekend. In two six-hour sessions the attendees discussed who should pay for affordable, secure and sustainable energy. Should it be the customer through higher energy bills, or should it be the tax-payer or the companies and their shareholders?
Buy Better Together Challenge launches
21 February 2012
Have you thought of new ways of buying collectively to help save money? Or had an amazing idea on tools that can help individuals group together to buy collectively?
Today Co-operatives UK and The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills have launched The Buy Better Together Challenge, an exciting initiative to inspire new models of community buying, stimulate enterprise and promote shared learning. £60,000 will go towards training, mentoring and seed funding for stand out projects, including £15,000 for the overall winner!
