Consumer Focus is going. Now what?

Consumer Focus is the statutory "consumer champion" for England, Wales, Scotland and (for postal customers) Northern Ireland. It was set up by the previous Labour government just two years ago – in October 2008 – as the result of a controversial merger of the National Consumer Council with Energywatch and Postwatch. The new body aimed at offering joined-up consumer advocacy with a more powerful voice and an enhanced ability to bring expertise to bear in different sectors. It operated across the whole economy, working to persuade businesses, public services and policy makers to put consumers at the heart of their activities. Amid fears that it would be a toothless watchdog with little clout, it was given strong legislative powers. These included the right to investigate any consumer complaint if they are of wider interest, the right to open up information from providers, the power to conduct research and – importantly – the ability to make an official "super-complaint" about failing services. Consumer Focus, which has a staff of 154, received £13.9m in funding this year – £5.2m from the taxpayer and the remainder from the energy and postal industries. Its victories for consumers included – at the beginning of this month – a £70m pound energy bill refund to 1.8 million nPower customers who were overcharged for gas in 2007, and – three months ago – cash Isa reforms saving more than £15m a year. What next for the consumer? In the short-term, there will be no changes for the consumer as the government will wait for the results of a formal consultation early next year before determining how and when the work of Consumer Focus will be switched to Citizens Advice . But there are concerns about how an over-stretched network – which relies on funding from local authorities and other sources – will cope with the huge new influx of inquiries. The work of Consumer Direct – a national telephone helpline – is also being subsumed into Citizens Advice. As of April there are 394 member bureaux in England and Wales giving advice from 3,500 locations including hospitals, health centres, courts, prisons and people's own homes. Citizens Advice has a workforce of 27,000 of whom 21,000 are trained volunteers. While it is geared up to dealing with individual inquiries, there are fears that it does not have the expertise to handle large-scale complaints about specific issues, which could affect consumers. Last year the service attracted a whopping 7.1m individual inquiries – an 18% increase on the previous year and amid clear signs that consumers were desperate for advice on debt, benefits and employment issues. With so much turbulence in the energy market, consumer experts expect the Energy Ombudsman to be deluged with complaints. The consumer organisation Which? – a commercial organisation which also has powers to launch super-complaints – has offered its services to the government.