Consumer Councils & Other Consumer Bodies

DTI is responsible for the funding of, and appointments to the National Consumer Council (including the Scottish Consumer Council and the Welsh Consumer Council) that were established to protect and promote the interests of consumers. We are also responsible for appointments to the Hearing Aid Council.

National Consumer Council

The National Consumer Council (NCC) is a consumer policy and research organisation with a special focus on the needs of disadvantaged consumers. Consumer and Competition Directorate is responsible for providing most of NCC's funding, and making appointments to the NCC (including the Scottish and Welsh Consumer Councils).

NCC's objectives are to work to:

• develop markets and public services that work for everyone;

• create smart, streetwise, skilled consumers;

• provide solutions to the problems of exclusion;

• ensure decision-makers are consumer aware; and

• achieve the right balance between innovation and consumer protection.

Check the NCC web site at www.ncc.org.uk for up-to-date news about its publications, policies and campaigns.

Hearing Aid Council

The Department is responsible for the Hearing Aid Council (HAC).  The HAC was set up under the Hearing Aid Council Act 1968, as amended by the Hearing Aid Council (Amendment) Act 1989 and is primarily concerned with the regulation of people involved in the dispensing of hearing aids. 

HAC is a regulatory body that ensures that dispensers of hearing aids have adequate standards of competence and conduct. It does this by:

• maintaining a register of qualified dispensers;

• encouraging high standards in professional practice though its examination and qualification system and code of practice;

• taking up complaints on behalf of consumers.

HAC is funded through subscriptions from registered dispensers.

For further information on the Hearing Aid Council please contact:

Barrie Stevenson
Consumer Affairs Directorate
Room 462
DTI
1 Victoria Street
London, SW1H 0ET
Tel: 020 7215 0319

or visit the HAC web site: www.thehearingaidcouncil.org.uk

Citizens Advice

Consumer Affairs Directorate is responsible for the funding and support of Citizens Advice (formerly known as the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux (NACAB)) and Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) which provide the central support services and information systems to all Citizens Advice Bureaux in England, Wales and Scotland.

Quinquennial Reviews

July 2002: The DTI announced the completion of its latest Quinquennial Review of the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux (NACAB) in July 2002. The Review looked at the service NACAB provides and how its role could be developed in future and focuses on the impact of the CAB Service on individuals and communities, the efficiency with which the organisation operates and the contribution of NACAB to government policy implementation.

 Comprehensive executive summary of the NACAB review(17 pages).
 Annex which sets out the report's final recommendations (12 pages).

October 2002: The DTI announced the completion of its recent Quinquennial Review of Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) on Thursday 31st October. The Review considered the way CAS spends public money, in the context of its work to support and develop the Citizens Advice Bureaux Service in Scotland. The Review considered the key strategic issues facing the organisation, whether it provides value for money and made a number of recommendations about how CAS and the CAB Service should develop in future.

Over the next few months, both DTI and CAS will be considering how best to take forward these recommendations.

Comprehensive executive summary of the CAS review (22 pages).

Please e-mail Kerry.Jones@dti.gsi.gov.uk if you would like any further information about these Reviews.

Trading Standards Departments

Modernising Trading Standards

The Government is committed to modernising the Trading Standards service, offering a better service to both consumers and business. To this end a £30 million Modernisation Fund has been made available targeted in a number of key areas:

• Strengthening Trading Standards Capability

• Effective Enforcement

• Information and advice to consumers

• Consumer safety

Strengthening Trading Standards Capability

Trading Standards departments are faced with increasingly new challenges in a modern society. The Government recognises the need to provide Trading Standards officers with access to methods of continuous development in order to offer a modern and relevant service to today's consumers. The DTI is enhancing the commitment and investment made by local government by providing:

DTI Scholarships

Up to £1 million has been made available to provide scholarships to cover the costs of training new Trading Standards Officers. The money is available for local authorities to cover the costs of entry to training schemes for both new entrants to the service and existing enforcement officers, examination fees, salary funding for trainees and the costs of undergraduate students on work experience.

LACORS (the Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services) is administering the scholarships on behalf of the DTI. Details on how local authorities can apply for scholarship funding can be found by visiting the LACORS website (www.lacors.gov.uk) or by applying in writing to:

LACORS
10 Albert Embankment
London SE1 7SP

Distance Learning Materials for Trading Standards

The Government also recognises the need to provide study aids for officers taking the DTS, providing them with easily accessible resources. £0.5 million has been made available from the Modernisation Fund for the Trading Standards Institute to develop distance learning materials in a flexible format assisting existing staff to study at times that suit them.

For further details please contact:

Trading Standards Institute
3-5 Hadleigh Business Centre
51 London Road
Hadleigh
Essex SS7 2BT

Effective Enforcement

In today's information led society it is vital that trading standards provide a consistent and focused approach to both consumers and business. The DTI wants to encourage a coherent approach to enforcement.

To encourage a more joined up approach the Government has allocated £1.5 million to promote regional coordination and more cross boundary work between trading standards departments.

Both these areas can be very helpful in the development of best practice, which can be replicated across other trading standards departments.

Funding is available to trading standards as a one off enforcement coordination package for Trading Standards regional groups. Groups have been invited to apply for a known share providing they demonstrate how the grant will be used to fund one or more joined up enforcement initiatives for the region based on set criteria. It is open for the regional group to apply to use some their share to continue to employ a regional coordinator. Guidance and an application form are available on the LACORS website www.lacors.gov.uk.

Regional Coordination.

Greater cooperation between trading standards departments is helping to strengthen consumer protection by providing better targeting of rogue traders and region wide scams. Coordination is also providing local authorities with better avenues of intelligence gathering and dissemination and direction of effort, helping authorities to deliver national programmes.

Cross Boundary enforcement

In today's modern society, businesses often span large areas crossing geographical borders. Trading standards departments need to be able to respond to the challenges that this poses for consumers and businesses alike. The Government is committed to supporting trading standards departments working together to combat cross boundary issues.

Information and advice to consumers

In our information led society it is vital we provide modern consumers with the right tools to put them in the driving seat pushing forward innovation and business. However, too often advice services for consumers have been patchy and fragmented.

To try and combat this the DTI is investing a further £1.5 million from the Modernisation Fund to sponsor the development of Consumer Support Networks (CSNs).

Consumer Safety

£1.5 million is being made available during 2003/4 to support work on consumer safety at a local level. The money will be targeted in two main areas:

• Support of the two national voluntary accident prevention bodies - the Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT) and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) (£400k has been set aside for this purpose).

• Support for new local home accident prevention initiatives involving co-operation between local authorities and community and voluntary groups. The money - £1.1 million - will be dispersed in the form of grants.

Further advice for local authorities on the projects funded under the safety fund can be found on the DTI's Home Safety Network web site.

National Performance Framework for Trading Standards

As part of the Government’s commitment to modernising the Trading Standards service the DTI have launched a National Performance Framework.

The framework, developed in co-operation with LACORS, TSI, NWML and the OFT, aims to ensure that Trading Standards services throughout the UK are able to develop a modern service which works towards national and local priorities in a coherent way.

£0.5 million of the Modernisation Fund has been ear marked to support the development and to ensure the smooth roll-out of the performance framework to Local Authorities.

The framework:

• Sets out priorities and standards for the service;
• Includes guidance on the content of a Trading Standards service delivery plan;
• Aims to raise the profile of the TS service within the local authority and for consumers and business;
• Recognises TS’s role in developing local economies;
• Aims to ensure all trading standards are working to the same core objectives;
• Requires Trading Standards to provide baseline data to the DTI.

The National Performance Framework has three key elements:

• Service Delivery Plan Every Trading Standards Service will be required to draw up a Service Delivery Plan outlining provisions in key areas. They will then be monitored and audited with the plan as the basis.

• The Standard The standards indicate what Trading Standards should aim to provide for as a basis for delivering the priorities.

• The Information Return The information return seeks to establish some baseline data for each Trading Standards service which will be reported nationally from April 2002.

National Performance Framework Documents

Intro. to National Performance Framework.
Service Delivery Plan for 2003-4.

Performance Measures and contextual information for 2003/4

When the National Performance Framework was introduced in April 2002, it was agreed by key stakeholders that in establishing the performance framework, the next stage was the development of performance measures.

The Performance Measures and supporting contextual information have been introduced to assist service review and improvement. The Measures and contextual information aim to provide Local Authorities with the opportunity to benchmark their performance and make valid comparisons with like authorities encouraging continuous improvement.

Performance Measures for 2003-4.Guidance on Performance Measures for 2003-4.
Letter to Trading Standards Departments on 2003-4 return.

A Word template for the 2004/5 Service Delivery Plan will appear on www.tradingstandards.ws from mid February 2004. A template for the 2003/4 Information Return will appear on the same website from early April 2004.

Designating Bodies to Make Super-complaints

What is a super-complaint?

Section 11 of the Enterprise Act 2002 (EA 2002) enables consumer bodies designated by the Secretary of State to submit “super-complaints” to the OFT where they consider that there is any market feature, or combination of features, such as the structure of a market or the conduct of those operating within it, that is or appears to be significantly harming the interests of consumers.

Who can bring a super-complaint

Only those bodies that have been designated by the Secretary of State can bring a super-complaint.

The super complaints process has been set up with the aim of strengthening the voice of consumers, as they are unlikely to have access individually to the kind of information necessary to judge whether markets are failing for them.  Consumer groups can access individuals’ complaints to form a judgment on whether there is a problem and then take the necessary action.

However, it is important to remember that any body can still bring complaints to the OFT and the OFT will deal with them.  Super-complaints are simply a new route into the system – an initial “fast-tracking” to ensure that complaints about market failure which harms consumers are given consideration within a fixed time

How can a consumer body apply to be designated?

Guidance and criteria for prospective super-complaints bodies.  

For further information on applying for designation please contact:

Marie Cawley
Consumer and Competition Policy Directorate
Tel: 020 7215 6771
e-mail: marie.cawley@dti.gsi.gov.uk

Applications from bodies seeking designated status can be viewed here.