Published: 23 May 2012
Energy Secretary Edward Davey has today published practical advice for energy consumers looking to get a better deal on their gas and electricity deals through ‘collective switching’, and guidance for organisations wanting to launch their own collective energy purchasing schemes. Businesses, consumer groups, local government groups, housing organisations, charities and energy regulator Ofgem also attended [...]
Published: 6 July 2010
Prashant Vaze, Chief Economist, Consumer Focus Consumers in a recession Consumer Action Network
Published: 1 July 2010
Consumer Focus is pleased Ofgem has taken action to tackle price gaps and on clearer information on bills but energy firms still have a long way to go in giving a fair deal to all their customers. News that Ofgem are demanding explanations from two suppliers who may be overcharging is very welcome. The consumer [...]
Published: 30 June 2010
Consumer Focus welcomes the fact that extra homes will be insulated under CERT. However, it is disappointing that the announcement today has not seen an increase in targets to help low income households become more energy efficient through the CERT scheme and Warm Front.1 Commenting on today’s announcement on Government plans to boost home insulation [...]
Published: 30 June 2010
Shoppers looking for cheap deals in the summer sales can avoid bargain hunting misery by arming themselves with their consumer rights, Consumer Focus warns today. As shoppers flock to the sales in search of a sizzling bargain, the consumer champion is publishing its five top tips to help people avoid a wash-out at the tills [...]
Published: 29 June 2010
Consumer Focus welcomes the measures announced by the OFT to address the gross inefficiencies in the cash ISA market. The consumer champion said these are necessary first steps to drag the £158 billion¹ cash ISA market into the 21st century. Cutting the length of ISA transfers to 15 working days could save consumers up to [...]
Published: 24 June 2010
Audrey Gallacher, Head of Energy Policy at Consumer Focus, said: “Despite millions of the poorest households living in the most energy inefficient housing, and facing unaffordable energy bills, help has not been targeted effectively at this group.1 “Chris Huhne’s promise to refocus the energy efficiency obligations on energy companies to help fuel poor households is [...]
Published: 24 June 2010
Mike O’Connor CBE, Chief Executive of Consumer Focus, said: “It is vital that the Universal Service Obligation is maintained so that every home in the UK continues to get its mail collected and delivered at a single affordable price. Royal Mail is further along the road to modernisation now than when the original recommendations were [...]
Published: 22 June 2010
Commenting on today’s Budget announcement, Mike O’Connor CBE, Chief Executive of Consumer Focus, said: “The Chancellor has the difficult job of managing the nation’s finances in a way that distributes the pain fairly. Inevitably, the emergency budget will be setting off alarm bells for consumers. “Thousands of the things we buy everyday are going to [...]
Published: 22 June 2010
Supporting consumer advisers Consumer Focus enjoyed a prominent presence at this year’s Consumer Affairs and Trading Standards Annual Conference and Exhibition in Edinburgh (15-17 June). The event provides an excellent opportunity to reach a wide range of people who work directly with consumers, in one place. Our Chief Executive, Mike O’Connor joined a speakers panel [...]
Published: 17 June 2010
Responding to Ofcom’s announcement that charges for consumers who leave their landline contract early will be cut, Robert Hammond, head of post and digital communications at Consumer Focus, said: “These cuts are good news for consumers who have long been paying over the odds for cancelling their fixed line contracts early. The scale of these [...]
Published: 15 June 2010
Responding to the OFT review of the £7.5bn market for high cost credit, Marie Burton, financial services expert at Consumer Focus, said: “It is a cruel irony that people who are already struggling financially have to pay so much to borrow money. Unless more affordable credit is available, simply clamping down on high cost lenders [...]
Published: 10 June 2010
Responding to the announcement of government plans to scrap new regulations for private landlords, Richard Bates, head of community services at Consumer Focus, said: “Contrary to the minister’s claim that the vast majority of private tenants are happy, more than a quarter have had cause to complain in the last year, making it one of [...]
Published: 10 June 2010
Saskia Walzel, policy advocate. Consumer Focus A critique of the Digital Economy Act from a ‘subscriber’ view point
Published: 10 June 2010
Consumer Focus Labs, the online arm of watchdog Consumer Focus, has today launched a new site to help consumers reduce unwanted junk mail and cold calling. StayPrivate.org provides an easy way of opting out of receiving junk mail and sales calls by simplifying the process of registering with the Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) various preference [...]
Published: 9 June 2010
Audrey Gallacher, Head of Energy Policy at Consumer Focus, said: “We welcome the findings of Ofgem’s investigation and hope that EDF can learn from the problems experienced at Dartford. It is however essential that the tens of thousands of people who were affected by this power cut now receive appropriate compensation. This blackout caused huge [...]
Published: 10 May 2012
Consumer watchdog sets out moves needed to make post office changes work better for customers Consumer Focus Scotland is calling for improvements to the new Post Office Local (PO Local) model, if it is to work better for consumers. The call comes as a new report from the watchdog – ‘Open all hours’ – shows [...]
Published: 11 April 2012
Responding to moves announced by the Deputy Prime Minister today (Weds 11 April) to help customers to get the best deal from their energy supplier, Trisha McAuley, Deputy Director of energy watchdog Consumer Focus Scotland, said: ‘There are some good ideas here. For example transferring customers to the best deal when their contract comes to [...]
Published: 10 April 2012
Scotland’s consumer watchdog says Community Benefit Funds from renewables can help tackle fuel poverty and improve energy efficiency Hundreds of thousands of pounds paid by renewable energy developers to local communities could be invested in improving energy efficiency and helping take thousands more Scottish homes out of fuel poverty. In a report published today, Reaping [...]
Published: 27 March 2012
Responding to the news of stamp prices announced today, Trisha McAuley, Deputy Director at Consumer Focus Scotland, said: ‘This is not great news for consumers in Scotland. I doubt anyone is going to think about the challenges facing Royal Mail when they are paying 60p for a first class stamp. Unfortunately, the economics of Royal [...]
Published: 15 March 2012
Rural residents ready for ‘switch’ to renewables 21st century heating in rural homes [Includes West Highland Housing Association Case Study] People living in rural Scotland are being encouraged to install renewable heating devices in their homes if they are not connected to the gas grid. Research by Scotland’s consumer watchdog, Consumer Focus Scotland, is to [...]
Published: 21 May 2012
Our recent research shows there is a need for change within the private rented sector, and it is pleasing to see that this need has been identified by the Welsh Government in their housing White Paper.
Published: 26 April 2012
Consumer Focus Wales is calling on park homes site owners and their representatives to work with them to help improve living conditions for residents. The consumer champion has spoken to every local authority and more than 250 park home owners across Wales. Now they are asking for site owners and [1]industry bodies to participate in [...]
Published: 11 April 2012
New proposals for changes to the consumer landscape were announced today by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The Citizens Advice service will take on responsibility from Consumer Focus for representing consumers’ interests in unregulated sectors across Wales and England. This will leave a new, technical Regulated Industries Unit working with the energy and [...]
Published: 27 March 2012
‘There have been great strides in food safety, with the Welsh Government promising to make it law for the mandatory display of food hygiene ratings on food business premises. But we are disappointed that a year on from our last report, the Food Standards Agency food law enforcement review, commissioned by the Welsh Government, has yet to be published. It is 12 months overdue – this simply isn’t good enough for consumers in Wales.
Published: 27 March 2012
‘This is not great news for consumers... Unfortunately, the economics of Royal Mail meant that something had to give to maintain the Universal Service Obligation (USO).'
Published: 11 May 2012
Consumer Focus, the UK postal watchdog, is calling for improvements to the new Post Office Local (PO Local) model, if it is to work better for consumers. The call comes as a new report from the watchdog – ‘Open all hours’ – shows that while the new model has potential benefits, there are unresolved problems [...]
Published: 30 April 2012
A new report ‘A front office for government services’ by Consumer Focus Post, the postal consumer champion in Northern Ireland (NI), says post offices could and should be providing more key government services. This would have dual benefits of improving access to services for consumers and increasing the sustainability of the post office network that [...]
Published: 27 March 2012
Responding to the news of stamp prices announced today, Kellin McCloskey, Head of Postal Policy at Consumer Focus Post said: ‘This is not great news for consumers. I doubt anyone is going to think about the challenges facing Royal Mail when they are paying 60p for a first class stamp. Unfortunately, the economics of Royal [...]
Published: 15 March 2012
A new report published today by Consumer Focus Post – called ‘Letter Lockout’1 - explores the nature and extent of mail delivery problems experienced by consumers living in flats across Northern Ireland. While most residents of flats express high levels of satisfaction with their postal service provided by Royal Mail, the new findings also reveal [...]
Published: 9 March 2012
Responding to Post Office Limited’s plans for a network transformation programme which will turn 6,000 branches across the UK, including Northern Ireland, into Post Office ‘Locals’ and ‘Mains’1, Kellin McCloskey, Head of Postal Policy, Consumer Focus Post said: ‘The Post Office network needs to be put on a firm footing for the future, so it [...]
