Published: 3 April 2013
Trisha McAuley, Senior Director at Consumer Focus Scotland said: “This is not a case of one bad apple or one rogue sales team. The problems at SSE affected the whole direct selling operation and represent a fundamental failure at one of our biggest energy companies. Other companies have also broken direct selling. This has been [...]
Published: 26 January 2011
Consumer Focus Scotland is today urging Scottish customers who have yet to take advantage of refunds from npower for gas bill overpayments in 2007 to claim their share of the £625,000 still available. On 1 October 2010 npower and Consumer Focus announced that the firm would be offering £70 million of refunds to customers. Over [...]
Published: 25 January 2011
Responding to the announcement that the OfT is to launch a market study into the supply of energy to homes that are off-grid, Trisha McAuley, Deputy Director and energy expert at Consumer Focus Scotland, said: ‘This investigation into the market for supplying energy to households not on the gas network is welcome but long overdue. [...]
Published: 25 January 2011
Consumer Focus Scotland has welcomed the Scottish Government’s announcement that regulations governing the approval of a national Tenancy Deposit Scheme are expected to become law in March. Douglas White, Senior Policy Advocate for Consumer Focus Scotland, said: “We welcome the introduction of this scheme and the new protection it will give tenants. Getting a deposit [...]
Published: 18 January 2011
Independent report calls for radical reform of Scotland’s civil justice system A review undertaken by a committee of Scotland’s leading civil justice organisations is calling for a radical rethink on how the civil justice system can be reformed to make it more fit for purpose and user-friendly. The Civil Justice Advisory Group is recommending a [...]
Published: 5 January 2011
Consumer Focus Scotland has welcomed the introduction of rules clarifying the use of Lay Support or ‘McKenzie Friends’ into Scotland’s sheriff courts from 1 January.[1] The court rules governing the use of McKenzie Friends came about following a long campaign by various organisations and individuals committed to the reform of civil justice in Scotland, including Consumer Focus [...]
Published: 17 December 2010
Following continued high heating oil prices, which have outstripped crude oil prices, Consumer Focus Scotland is calling for the OFT to determine why the price of heating oil varies so much across the country. Trisha McAuley, Deputy Director and energy policy lead at Consumer Focus Scotland, said: ‘Rocketing heating oil prices are causing major worry for [...]
Published: 16 December 2010
Responding to the rapidly rising cost of heating oil, Trisha McAuley, Deputy Director and energy policy lead at Consumer Focus Scotland, said: ‘The news that thousands of homes in Scotland could be left without heating oil if the big freeze continues is a real concern for many consumers. More than 200,000 households, mainly in rural [...]
Published: 10 December 2010
In response to price increases of 5.1% on gas and electricity announced today by npower, Trisha McAuley, Deputy Director at Consumer Focus Scotland, said: ‘More bad news for consumers. npower customers will have been bracing themselves for this bad news after the increases from other firms, but that won’t make them any less worried about [...]
Published: 1 December 2010
Scots are being urged to check their energy deals as the freezing winter weather continues to see if they could be one of up to a million households that could be at least £100 better off. Nearly half of all Scots (48 per cent) [1] have never switched their energy supplier or even checked to [...]
Published: 26 November 2010
Responding to Ofgem’s announcement today that it is going to investigate the retail energy market, Trisha McAuley, Deputy Director of Consumer Focus Scotland, said: ‘This review is timely and necessary, coming hard on the heels of yesterday’s worrying news that fuel poverty levels in Scotland have reached an all time high. Consumers have little trust [...]
Published: 25 November 2010
Consumer Focus Scotland is calling on both the Scottish and UK governments to take radical action now to deal with the huge increase in fuel poverty following official figures, released today, which show that over three-quarters of a million households in Scotland are unable to keep their homes warm. The consumer watchdog says the shocking [...]
Published: 24 November 2010
Responding to the announcement that online is set to become the default channel for dealing with a number of UK Government services, Sarah O’Neill, Head of Policy at Consumer Focus Scotland, said: ‘This is a real chance to get back to the drawing board on how public services are delivered online. It would be a [...]
Published: 23 November 2010
Consumer Focus Scotland is urging people to make sure they post their cards and presents in time to beat the festive post rush. Consumer Focus Scotland’s top five Christmas post tips are: 1) Post your item as early as possible to ensure it is delivered before Christmas 1 – check the last postal dates and [...]
Published: 19 November 2010
In response to price rises of 2% on gas and 8.9% on electricity announced by Scottish Power today, Marieke Dwarshuis, Director of Consumer Focus Scotland, said: ‘Consumers will watch with dismay as another energy firm joins in the rush to hike prices. This latest round of price rises will further increase the distrust that consumers [...]
Published: 18 November 2010
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) wants shoppers to remember their consumer rights when buying Christmas presents this year. BIS conducted research as part of the ‘Know Your Consumer Rights’ campaign with Consumer Focus, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and Consumer Direct. The research showed that many are still uncertain of their [...]
Published: 3 April 2013
Adam Scorer, Director of Policy at Consumer Focus said: ‘This is not a case of one bad apple or one rogue sales team. The problems at SSE affected the whole direct selling operation and represent a fundamental failure at one of our biggest energy companies. Other companies have also broken direct selling. This has been [...]
Published: 27 March 2013
Responding to the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s (DECC) Impact Assessment, Audrey Gallacher, Director of Energy at Consumer Focus, said: ‘All serious projections show that our energy bills are likely to keep rising. Consumers have had to weather any number of energy price storms over recent years, and although the ‘cushion’ effect set out [...]
Published: 13 March 2013
Christine Farnish, Chair at Consumer Focus, said: ‘This report on Simple Financial Products could mark a watershed moment in the evolution of retail financial services markets. ‘Simple products are long overdue. They would, at long last, provide consumers with the option of no frills, no catches products that people can understand and buy with confidence. [...]
Published: 1 March 2013
Responding to Royal Mail’s price announcement, Robert Hammond, Director of Postal Policy and Regulation at Consumer Focus said: ‘Posting letters and parcels is an essential service and consumers are looking much harder at value for money and quality of service, even on the price of a stamp. ‘This year’s freeze on stamp prices for letters, [...]
Published: 28 February 2013
Work planning, comparing comparison sites, infrastructure investment, personal data and the green doctor. Plus videos about children in cold homes and consumer vox pops on in-home displays.
Published: 11 January 2013
Plans to address rising energy bills, smart-meter roll-out, the future of the Post Office network and the provision of Welsh language services have been set out today as Consumer Focus Wales launches its consultation on the first Annual Plan for a new Regulated Industries Unit (RIU). The consumer watchdog will be replaced in March 2013 [...]
Published: 10 January 2013
In response to the Office of Fair Trading’s report Lindsey Kearton, policy manger at Consumer Focus Wales, said: ‘We welcome OFT’s drive to raise compliance standards across the energy efficiency sector. We know from our research that Wales has some of the most energy inefficient properties in Great Britain. Improving the energy efficiency of homes is one [...]
Published: 30 November 2012
Consumer Focus Wales is urging people to avoid possible disappointment this Christmas by posting cards and presents and ordering online shopping early. If consumers plan ahead they may be able to save money by sending all of their Christmas items Second Class. According to Royal Mail, hundreds of million cards are posted to family and [...]
Published: 21 November 2012
Local authorities in Wales should work together more effectively to protect the rights of park homes residents says Consumer Focus Wales. The Regulated Mobile Home Sites (Wales) Bill aims to better protect vulnerable park home residents against unscrupulous site operators. But while proposals acknowledge the benefits of local authorities working together, the Bill does not [...]
Published: 16 October 2012
Consumer Focus Wales has warned that timescales for appeals against food hygiene ratings and for the display and publication of ratings risk significant delays before the information is available to consumers. There are also concerns about the knock-on effect timescales for appeals and publication of ratings will have on the display of ratings on the [...]
Published: 1 March 2013
Kellin McCloskey, Head of Postal Policy of Consumer Focus Post said: “Posting letters and parcels is an essential service and consumers are looking much harder at value for money and quality of service, even on the price of a stamp. “This year’s freeze on stamp prices for letters, following the big rise last year, is [...]
Published: 14 January 2013
Created as part of the wider Consumer Landscape reforms,1 the provisionally named Regulated Industries Unit (RIU) takes over Consumer Focus’ responsibilities as the statutory representative for consumers in energy, postal services and for water in Scotland. It will also be a voice on many of the issues that are common to markets subject to economic [...]
Published: 30 November 2012
Consumer Focus Post is urging people to avoid possible disappointment this Christmas by posting cards and presents and ordering online shopping early. New research1 by Consumer Focus Post reveals that last Christmas: almost two-thirds (63 per cent) of people did not know the last posting dates for items to arrive on time approximately 90,0002 people [...]
Published: 13 November 2012
Responding to the news that the Post Office has won the DVLA contract, Kellin McCloskey, Head of Postal Policy of Consumer Focus Post said: ‘This is a win-win decision for consumers and the Post Office. Winning the DVLA contract will help to secure the sustainability of the Post Office’s network and maintain the service customers [...]
Published: 27 September 2012
Welcoming Ofcom’s decision to allow Royal Mail to roll-out its ‘delivery to neighbours’ initiative nationwide, Kellin McCloskey, Head of Postal Policy at Consumer Focus Post said: ‘This is good news for consumers. Missed deliveries are an increasing inconvenience for many people and giving postmen the option to leave undeliverable post with a neighbour is one [...]