Consumer issues will now be handled by the Citizen’s Advice Bureau after the government committed to axing the Consumer Direct helpline.
Consumer Direct is one of around 190 quangos that will be culled by the coalition government as part of the national spending review, with the Citizen’s Advice Bureau charity now assuming the consumer helpline.
Consumer direct was a national body designed to help the general public with consumer issues, with a dedicated website and helpline supporting local trading standards office. Under the spending review, local trading standards offices would be unaffected.
Other changes will see the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) merged with the Competition Commission – a move which will also see the OFT stripped of its consumer protection role. Instead, high profile consumer issues that would have been handled by the OFT will now be handled by local trading standards offices.
Consumer Focus, the government’s official consumer watchdog, is also likely to be scrapped whilst the issuing of consumer credit licences will be passed to the new Consumer Protection and Markets Authority.
Critics have suggested that the cuts will place too much of a burden on existing services, particularly the charitable organisation, CAB. Local trading standards offices have also called for increased funding to support their enforcement work.
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