The Government wants Britain’s consumer regime to be as good as any in the world – we have set ourselves a target of reaching the level of the best by 2008.

More than this, we want a consumer regime that is fit for purpose for the 21st Century. A regime that will empower and protect consumers, support open, competitive and innovative markets, that is as fair to business as it is to consumers and that has the minimum regulation necessary to achieve these goals.

The Consumer Strategy, ‘A Fair Deal For All – Extending Competitive Markets: Empowered Consumer, Successful Business’, provides details of the Government’s commitments to meeting our target of reaching the level of the best. They include:

• Promoting open and competitive markets;
• Empowering consumers;
• Simplifying the law for the benefit of
  consumers and business;
• Making it easier to resolve problems; and
• Ensuring a fair and safe trading environment.

Consumer Strategy (28 pages).
Click to have a printed version posted to you.
Consumer Strategy Regulatory Impact Assessment (49 pages - PDF only).

Click here to read the consultation on a Consumer & Trading Standards Agency mentioned on page 22 of the Strategy.

Extending Competitive Markets: Empowered Consumers, Successful Business

In 2004 DTI launched a consultation on a consumer strategy for the next 5–10 years. The strategy set out the practical actions required to bring the UK up to world-class standards for consumers. The consultation closed in October 2004.

Consultation Document (103 pages).
Summary of Responses (25 pages).

The 2004 strategy proposals followed on from the 1999 White Paper Modern Markets: Confident Consumers, and from DTI’s comparative study of international consumer policy regimes published in October 2003.

Consumer White Paper 1999 (64 pages).
Implementation Plan (36 pages).
Report on implementation of the 1999 White Paper (22 pages - landscape).

A joint DTI-HM Treasury report on Consumer Representation in the Regulated Industries can be found here.

Contact