Following Department of Trade and Industry reviews of the National Consumer Council and Consumer Congress, NfCG is being asked to consider a joint venture that will ensure the future of independent consumer representation - we now seek your views. Here is the background:
A recent DTI funded review into Consumer Congress (CC) concluded: "...there are potentially important functions that would be best fulfilled within National Consumer Council (NCC)" Following this, Congress's Executive Committee strove to persuade the powers that be that its member organisations valued its independence from government more than anything - a point that more members might have made during the review..
The clear message coming from NCC is that it expects Government direct funding for Congress to end and that NCC would itself take on the "important functions" identified by the consultants. Those functions are defined as:
In the text of the report it states: "There is an identifiable need in the current consumer environment for a consultative forum to enable consumer bodies to present their views and inform policy .. ..The Government wishes to see a more consultative approach " - this is wrongly opinions upon topics of the day, on the National interpreted by the authors of the report as 1 stage, is a must. The second important function above. It is the need for consumers to ,, carried out by CC is the management and consult upwards to government that is important, and correct in the quote, not just for government to consult down as expressed in interpretation!
The second function - information and training - is important, but once again it is information services that pass opinions and facts up to government from smaller consumer groups that are important and not only the reverse.
In brief, it appears that the authors of this report have interpreted every aspect of consultation from a single viewpoint and ignored the consumer's view from the grass roots.
An alternative option in the Report suggested that "...there may be some merit in considering ...... bringing together the membership services provided by CC and NfCG."
It is this option that the Congress Committee has decided to investigate and it has now approached NfCG with a view to forming a working party to take matters forward before NCC formulates its own plans to assume those functions after 30 September this year. Consumer Congress has sought support from its members for such a move at its AGM in July. "The proposal is seen as a positive step towards the development of a truly independent consumer representative forum to meet the demands of the 21st Century" says CC.
The Executive Committee of NfCG has agreed to participate in this working party and expects to be able to `report back to its AGM in September with any proposals.
It has not gone unnoticed that we already provide many of the services also provided by CC, although we could be more active in developing our communications systems. In preliminary discussions it has been agreed that an annual Consumer Congress, where grassroots consumer representatives can gather to put forward their opinions upon topics of the day, on the National stage, is a must.
The second important function carried out by Congress is the management and distribution of its Directory. This serves member organisations by keeping current information about them in the public domain. Not only should the listing be retained, but it should also be available on the Internet.
Should we all agree to combine forces, NfCG might have some difficult decisions to make, and in the first instance, your opinions will be the basis of our position.
Roy Bisson
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