Published: 11 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: 25 February 2009
One in four water coolers fail contamination tests Consumer watchdog calls for awareness campaign for users and operators
Published: 16 February 2009
CFS comment on Airmiles annoucnement
Published: 12 February 2009
Consumer Focus Scotland is welcoming the publication today of the OFT market study on property management services.
Published: 6 February 2009
In response to the news that Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) plans to reduce its domestic energy prices from 30 March, 2009, Martyn Evans, Director of energy watchdog, Consumer Focus Scotland,
Published: 4 February 2009
Law Commission And Scottish Law Commission – Joint Consultation Paper On Consumer Remedies For Faulty Goods
Published: 22 January 2009
In response to the news that Scottish Gas is to reduce its prices by ten per cent from mid February, Martyn Evans, Director at energy watchdog, Consumer Focus Scotland, gave a guarded welcome to the announcement:
Published: 22 January 2009
In response to the news that Scottish Gas is to reduce its prices by ten per cent from mid February, Martyn Evans, Director at energy watchdog, Consumer Focus Scotland, gave a guarded welcome to the announcement
Published: 16 January 2009
Responding to the publication of the HMIE review 2005-2008 Improving Scottish Education, Jennifer Wallace, Senior Policy Advocate at Consumer Focus Scotland
Published: 16 January 2009
CFS Comment on BAA Airports Market Investigation
Published: 16 January 2009
Response to OFT ahead of the launch of its home buying and selling market study
Published: 9 January 2009
Comment on the reports of the findings of a MORI survey on property managers for the OFT
Published: 8 December 2008
A spokesman for the leading Scottish watchdog, Consumer Focus Scotland, welcomed the announcement by the Office of Fair Trading that it is consulting on an inquiry into the UK housing market and urged them to include Scotland in its remit.
Published: 8 December 2008
A unique guide to the rights of parents of school-age children in Scotland is being launched today by Scotland’s foremost consumer organisation.
Published: 23 May 2012
In a new report Consumer Focus argues that credit union services should be expanded by offering them through the UK’s post office network. The watchdog’s research1 shows a third of consumers (34 per cent overall and 40 per cent of those on lower incomes) would be interested in joining a credit union, but two-thirds of [...]
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: 22 May 2012
Commenting on the Office of Fair Trading’s action against Wonga regarding its debt collection practices, Sarah Brooks, Director of Financial Services at Consumer Focus said: ‘Payday loan company marketing is very good at presenting the products as being easy, simple and transparent. This action by the OFT shows that beneath all the gloss, when things [...]
Published: 22 May 2012
Adam Scorer, Director of Policy and External Affairs at Consumer Focus, said: ‘Customers will clearly have had very high expectations of any firm that dubbed itself the “fifth emergency service” and Homeserve must live up to its promises. ‘It is very welcome that the FSA is investigating the accusations Homeserve faces of misselling. Homeserve has [...]
Published: 22 May 2012
Sarah Brooks, Director of Financial Services at Consumer Focus said: ‘A record increase in complaints to the Ombudsman and the high number of upholds show consumers clearly need improvements in how they are being treated by banks and insurers. Outside of PPI it is disappointing that the number of banking complaints only fell by one per [...]
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 [...]
