Consumer Issues
We want to ensure that UK consumers are treated fairly, know their rights and can use them effectively, and that consumer law is fair to both consumers and business.
Consumer advice
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) does not provide advice on individual consumer or competition problems or complaints, nor can it interpret legislation in individual cases. Instead, you could visit the following websites:
Public bodies bill - Changes to the UK consumer and competition bodies
Statement by Vince Cable, Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Competition and consumer policy are both areas of vital importance for citizens, for business and for the economic growth on which we all depend. Empowered consumers and fair competition policy drive our competitive markets, which promote efficiency and innovation in business. Britain’s competition policy regime is highly regarded but we are looking at ways to improve it further.
In particular, the Coalition Government is committed to saving public money wherever possible and rationalising the number of public bodies. I want to set out here how we intend to preserve, and where possible enhance, front-line delivery of consumer and competition policy, while streamlining the landscape and saving public money.
As things stand the competition framework involves a number of specialised bodies with detailed but overlapping roles. Each of these bodies does a very good job and is highly regarded globally. But the institutional boundaries between them can impose costs and uncertainty for business and may reduce the efficiency of, in particular, the markets regime. Meanwhile, consumers are represented by a bewildering array of public, private and voluntary bodies, sometimes duplicating each other in their efforts to inform, educate and advise consumers of their rights.
My Department, working with the Treasury and other key stakeholders, has conducted a thorough review of this complex and confusing landscape. Our aim is to create a simpler structure with a single competition authority and a stronger role for front-line consumer services.
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I am minded to merge the Competition Commission and the competition and markets investigation functions of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to create a single, streamlined expert competition and markets authority. This new body would have greater effectiveness and efficiency to investigate mergers, markets, cartels and anti-competitive practices. It would also retain the function of independent market investigation and analysis, which cuts across the consumer and competition spheres...
I am also considering whether to abolish the Competition Service and transfer its functions of supporting the Competition Appeal Tribunal to the Tribunal Service. With Ken Clarke, I am reviewing the case for doing this...
In terms of consumer issues, I believe that we should have a model that strengthens the front line while cutting down the complexity, confusion and waste, which accompanies the proliferation of bodies.
Currently, enforcement of general consumer law is shared between the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and Trading Standards. Consumer complaints are handled by a constellation of sector-specific bodies, by the Citizens Advice service and by the dedicated helpline Consumer Direct, which is operated by OFT. Research and advocacy work is done by OFT, Consumer Focus and in some regulated sectors there are a number of specific consumer bodies. Information and education provision is split between all of these bodies I have outlined.
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We have identified two groups to be at the centre of our plans for a better model for the consumer landscape. The first is the Citizens Advice service, which includes Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland, charitable bodies consisting of a network of local bureaux supported by a central guidance, policy and social advocacy function. The second is Trading Standards, which are part of local authorities and provide the vast majority of on-the-ground enforcement of consumer law. They also undertake local education initiatives.
Both these groups have high public awareness and trust levels. I am therefore minded to shift almost all relevant central Government funding for consumer bodies towards these two groups in order to achieve the changes set out below.
In our proposed new regime, Trading Standards will be given responsibility for enforcement of almost all consumer law. Local threats to fair trading will continue to be handled at local authority level. But national and regional threats will now increasingly also be addressed through one or more dedicated, expert teams, within Trading Standards with work co-ordinated nationally for this purpose. Specific arrangements may need to be made in Scotland and Wales.
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This approach chimes with the Government’s Localism agenda, should lead to significant efficiency savings and is a potential model for integrating local and national funding for regulatory enforcement in other areas.
In addition to these measures, I propose that responsibility for all non-financial consumer education, information and advice, and notably the Consumer Direct helpline, will transfer to the Citizens Advice service. I believe there is scope for other Government advice and information services also to become part of the Citizens Advice service, to reinforce a simple message to consumers – if you need information or advice, go to Citizens Advice.
I also propose to transfer most of the consumer-related research and advocacy functions, currently undertaken by OFT and Consumer Focus, to the Citizens Advice service. This would include work on strategic and forward-looking policy issues.
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