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UK: Consumer Focus to be axed

The UK government has today announced that Consumer Focus, the consumer watchdog, is to be axed.

Consumer Focus is the 'consumer champion' organisation and is responsible for ensuring that customers get a fair deal in a range of areas.

As part of the axing of quangos, the UK government-backed Consumer Direct helpline will be taken over by the Citizens Advice Bureau.

 

Consumer Focus response

Responding to the announcement by the government today, Mike O'Connor CBE, Chief Executive of Consumer Focus, said:

'Consumer Focus has achieved big wins for consumers in just two years - including a £70 million pound energy bill refund and cash ISA reforms saving over £15 million a year. We've delivered our biggest results in the last few months but the biggest challenges for consumers are ahead, with major reforms to the energy, post and financial services markets.

I am immensely proud of what we have achieved. Government has decided to transfer at least some of our functions to Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland. The issue now is not who does the work but that the work is done well, at a time when consumers are facing difficult economic circumstances, especially those who are vulnerable and whom Parliament has given us a particular duty to protect.

What matters now, is that the transfer happens in a way that works in consumers' interests. The expertise and knowledge that has enabled us to fight for consumers must not be lost. Changes must not be at the expense of the public's rights and needs - which organisations like Consumer Focus were created to protect.'

 

What will change

This will impact directly on consumers who will see a dilution of some of the groups that offer support and advice. They include:

• The Consumer Direct helpline - which offers immediate advice and forwards serious cases on to trading standards officers - will be overseen by Citizens Advice rather than the Office of Fair Trading (OFT)
• High-profile consumer right challenges will devolve to local trading standards officers from the OFT
• Granting of licences to offer credit to consumers will go to the new Consumer Protection and Markets Authority
• Consumer Focus - the government's official consumer watchdog is expected to be scrapped

Both Consumer Focus and Consumer Direct were set up by the previous Labour administration but they will no longer continue in their current form.

Trading standards officers campaigned for the Consumer Direct helpline to ease the pressure on dealing with frontline complaints from consumers to concentrate on investigating and prosecuting rogue traders.

Source