Protecting Consumers
Consumer Protection Review
A government review of the consumer protection regime is looking at where legislation can be simplified, while ensuring the public gets a fair deal and high-quality products. As markets and technologies continue to develop at pace, our legislative system has to keep up and provide consumers with adequate protection.
Consumer protection regulations have developed over several decades and there are now more than 100 different pieces of legislation, which are sometimes inconsistent and inflexible. These have also caused a huge administrative burden for businesses.
World-class protection
The Government is committed to making our consumer protection regime the world’s best.
Its aim is to ensure people get:
- a fair deal
- value for money
- safe and high-quality products
- greater choice.
This is good for consumers and good for British business.
Reviewing consumer protection
To help achieve this, the Government has launched a review of the UK’s consumer protection regime. This will:
- look at where existing legislation can be simplified and made more flexible, while retaining the necessary level of protection
- consider how to simplify and rationalize the enforcement of legislation, allowing regulators to focus on higher-risk sectors or business
- investigate how consumers can be kept better informed by communicating and explaining legislation more effectively.
Have your say
The review team would welcome your views about the consumer protection regime, and how it can be improved, as well as any examples of where it is or isn’t working.
If you would like to share your ideas or experiences, please contact the team on 020 7215 0325 or consumerlawreview@berr.gsi.gov.uk.
Call for Evidence
If you have an interest in Consumer Law, we want to hear from you.
The responses will feed into BERR’s Review of Consumer Law, which is looking at ways to deliver appropriate protection for consumers more simply and cost-effectively whilst at the same time reducing unnecessary burdens for business and promoting fair and competitive markets.
The review is looking at all aspects of the regime – legislation, enforcement of the law, and ways to help consumers make choices and gain redress.
(813KB)
We are asking for evidence and views about how our system needs to develop to deliver the right outcomes. In particular, we are asking:
Question 1:
For businesses, which aspects of the current regulatory framework do you find least/most challenging? What are the practical effects on:
- Your business operations?
- Your relationships with your customers?
- Your ability to innovate and grow?
Question 2:
For consumers, which aspects of the framework do you find least/most challenging? What are the practical effects on:
- Your buying in different situations e.g. on the internet (domestically or across borders)?
- Your buying products and services in different sectors?
- Your seeking redress?
Question 3:
For enforcers, which aspects of the framework do you find least/most challenging? What are the practical effects on:
- Your effective targeting of resources to tackle deliberate wrongdoing?
- Your coordinating and working across boundaries?
- The effectiveness of enforcement relating to sales over the internet?
Question 4:
How burdensome are current information provision requirements? What value do they bring?
Question 5:
How well do the current legal protections serve vulnerable consumers?
Question 6:
Can the enforcement arrangements be made less burdensome for complying businesses?
During the response period for this call for evidence we will be holding further stakeholder discussions.
If you have comments please contact: consumerlawreview@berr.gsi.gov.uk
Consumer Law Review
Better Regulation Executive/Competition and Consumer Policy Directorate
BERR
1 Victoria Street
London SW1H 0ET
or call +44 (0)207 215 0325.
The project team will not respond to individuals about their views. The team cannot deal with complaints about the way the inspection bodies have dealt with individual cases – any complaints should be taken up by the normal channels. If you want advice or information about consumer rights or consumer law then Business Link or Consumer Direct are good starting points.
You have until 31 July 2008 to respond. Thank you for taking the time to read this – we hope you are able to contribute.
Modernisation of Consumer Law event
A conference was recently held to explore in depth some of the issues which are open for consideration as part of BERR’s consumer law review. The speakers included leading academics in the area of consumer law and the event was attended by over 90 delegates from business, consumer groups and enforcement.