Consumer watchdogs ‘feeble’
Watchdogs set up to strengthen the voice of consumers in the postal and energy markets are “performing feebly”, a committee of MPs says today.
The public accounts committee finds that Energywatch and Postwatch, set up in 2000 to advise consumers and deal with complaints, are failing to perform their role effectively.
However, both organisations said many of the recommendations were out of date, and that improvements had been made since they gave evidence to the committee a year ago.
The report accepts that the two bodies have handled more 300,000 complaints and achieved compensation for some consumers, but says the overall achievements are “unimpressive”.
It cites an increasing level of complaints, consumers’ continued receipt of late and inaccurate bills and suppliers’ attempts to block consumers from switching to cheaper providers.
In addition, it finds that just two per cent of the public have heard of either Energywatch or Postwatch and warned there is still a lot of public dissatisfaction in the postal and energy markets.
“Neither Energywatch nor Postwatch have got out there to find out more about consumer needs and difficulties, especially those of older people and low income families,” said committee chairman Edward Leigh.
“Neither body knows how effective it is in helping consumers. And it can’t help that only a tiny proportion of the public have heard of the two bodies.
“Energywatch and Postwatch need to stop stuttering along and start firing on all cylinders. At the same time, they must look hard at how to cut their overhead costs which are unjustifiably escalating.”
A statement from Postwatch admitted the report was “very helpful” in addressing the issue of public awareness, but said many of the recommendations “have been overtaken by events”.
It cited a falling number of complaints about Royal Mail, although it admitted the real driving force behind this was the advent of competition in the postal market.
For his part, Energywatch chief executive Allan Asher disputed the suggestions that nobody had heard of them. He told BBC Radio Five Live that every electricity and gas bill has its telephone number on, and cited four million calls since its creation.
He added: “The research that led to the report was mainly research that related to Energywatch in its first two years, that’s three and four years ago, and we’ve learned a lot, we are now much more effective.”
