What does the new forum Open Labour stand for?

December 11th, 2015 by Roger Darlington

“Open Labour is a Labour forum aimed at creating a kinder, more active and more equal society. We seek a politics where power and wealth are more widely distributed, and in which we work more cooperatively to make sure that power, wealth and opportunity are for all of us – not just those who already have them.

We are part of the democratic left that believes that Labour governments are vital for achieving a country in which all citizens flourish. A Labour Party true to its values and fit for the 21st Century must be both radical and electable, built on a foundation of community, and around a culture which is modern, open and tolerant. Serious about fundamental change, it must also be honest with itself about the challenges it faces.”

These are the opening words of a short launch statement on the web site of Open Labour, which launched this week and has been formed by 50 activists who are claiming to be operating in the traditions of the Tribune Group, the former foreign secretary Robin Cook, and the ideas generated by Ed Miliband’s 2010 leadership campaign. As this comment points out, Open Labour enters a crowded field with many groups trying to revive the Labour Party.

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How to be good

December 11th, 2015 by Roger Darlington

Another Friday, another visit to my set of web site essays on life skills. Today’s essay is arguably my most ambitious, since it is an attempt to suggest how to be good. Check it out here.

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Unhappiness will not shorten your life

December 10th, 2015 by Roger Darlington

“Illness makes you unhappy, but unhappiness itself doesn’t make you ill … We found no direct effect of unhappiness or stress on mortality, even in a 10-year study of a million women.”

So states Dr Bette Liu, now at the University of New South Wales in Australia, about a study which has just been published in the “Lancet” medical journal. You’ll find more information on the study here.

And, if you want some suggestions on how to be happy, you’ll find some advice here.

Posted in My life & thoughts, Science & technology | Comments (0)

U.S. presidential election (15): Donald J Trump should revisit Ellis Island

December 9th, 2015 by Roger Darlington

The latest outrageous statement by Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump is disgusting and despicable. It is wrong on so many levels, but commentators are surely right when they brand it a “unAmerican”.

The United States was founded and peopled by newcomers of countless ethnicities and many religions. Nowhere in the USA is this brought home more dramatically than at Ellis Island which Trump – like me – must have visited several times.

It is time for him to return, see what I saw, and repent. Meanwhile he should withdraw from the primaries.

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Why and how the customer needs to be heard in regulatory debates and decision-making

December 8th, 2015 by Roger Darlington

SPEAKING NOTES FOR “CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT IN REGULATION” WORKSHOP ORGANISED BY THE CENTRE FOR ANALYSIS OF RISK & REGULATION AT THE LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS, 7 December 2015

Roger Darlington

Chair, Consumer Forum for Communications

WHY CUSTOMERS NEED AN INSTITUTIONAL VOICE IN REGULATED SECTORS

How do individual customers and companies engage with one another?

In all markets, there are at least six main methods:

Marketing – the promotion of products and services
Sales – one-off or subscription
Complaints to companies – these start as negative but can be learnings for the company
Public comments on social media or forums
Qualitative research such as focus groups or citizen juries
Quantitative research – but different questions, different sample sizes, and different timing can all influence result

All these are valuable forms of customer engagement which all companies and providers should be using.

In regulated markets, there are at least three further mechanisms:

Often there is an ongoing relationship with regular billing that might be monthly, quarterly or yearly – but evidence suggests that customers only look very quickly at bills simply to confirm charges.
Switching provider – but there are low levels of switching and, in some sectors, switching levels are actually falling.
Engagement with regulatory debates and submissions to regulatory consultations– but this is very difficult for customers who have busy lives and lack knowledge of regulatory issues and even language.

Yet, in regulated markets, customers need strong engagement because:

There is limited or no choice of provider.
We are talking about an essential service that no home can do without.
The sector has high costs because of heavy and long-term investment needs in infrastructure.
There are complicated trade-offs to be made between different stakeholders.

So customers/consumers/citizens/users need a stronger voice than markets alone can provide and this needs to be an institutional voice in regulatory debates.

THE DIFFERENT MODELS FOR AN INSTITUTIONAL VOICE

There are three models for providing an institutional customer voice in sectors subject to economic regulation:

1) A body within the regulator – such as the Communications Consumer Panel in Ofcom, the Customer Panel in the Civil Aviation Authority, and the Customer Advisory Panel in Ofwat for Price Review 14

2) A body outside the regulator – such as the former Postwatch and former Energywatch which were merged to form Consumer Focus and then became a unit in Citizens Advice plus bodies like CCWater and Passenger Focus

3) A body within the regulated company – such as the Customer Challenge Groups in the 18 water and sewage companies in England & Wales and the External Advisory Board in mobile operator EE

I am very familiar with all three models:

A body within the regulator – I was the Member for England on the Communications Consumer Panel for eight and a half years.
A body outside the regulator – I was on the Council of Postwatch for its last three years and on the Board of Consumer Focus for its first three years.
A body within the regulated company – I have chaired the Customer Challenge Group for South East Water for four years and I have been a member of the External Advisory Board of EE since it was set up two years ago.

In my view, each model has its strengths and weaknesses. So I believe that the best approach is a combination of all three with clear definitions of roles, close working of the parties, and proper resourcing for each body.

NEED FOR CROSS FERTILISATION OF THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Although each regulated sector has its own characteristics and complexities, there are some common features of all regulated markets. The regulators work together through the UK Regulators Network. Customer bodies similarly need to work together across sectors. Three relevant customer bodies are:

1) The Consumer Forum for Communications (which I chair) that covers telecommunications, broadcasting, spectrum, and posts

2) The New Public Interest Network that covers energy and water

3) The Essential Services Access Network that covers energy, water, communications and financial services

Some examples of the many cross-sector issues to be discussed are: access, take-up, price controls, affordability, vulnerability, switching levels, complaint handling, alternative dispute resolution procedures.

HOW DO CUSTOMER BODIES REACH THEIR VIEWS?

Like the regulators themselves, customer advocacy bodies need to be as evidence-based as possible. There are potentially many sources for evidence including the regulator’s research, the sector body’s research, the company’s research, complaints data, and research by customer bodies including all those already mentioned plus Citizens Advice, and Which?

BUT: all data has its limitations and many regulatory decisions do not lend themselves to customer research alone but require detailed knowledge and careful judgement.

Finally, we need to recognise the inevitability of trade-offs and make these as explicit and transparent as possible

between different customer groups
between present customers and future customers
between customer and citizens

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Word of the day: meggings

December 7th, 2015 by Roger Darlington

At a social event this weekend, I was introduced to a word that was new to me: meggings. Apparently it means male leggings.

Women have leggings. Children have leggings. I suppose men could too. But, tell me guys, would you wear these?

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A review of the film “Big Eyes”

December 6th, 2015 by Roger Darlington

This film, directed by Tim Burton, tells the remarkable true story of American artists Walter and Margaret Keane. You can read my review here.

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Who won at Oldham? Jim or Jeremy?

December 5th, 2015 by Roger Darlington

In Thursday’s by-elcction at Oldham West and Royton, Labour not only confounded most expectations by winning comfortably, but it actually increased its share of the vote compared to the General Election from 54.8% to 62.1%. So whose victory was this? The popular and moderate leader of Oldham council Jim McMahon or the Labour Leader substantially elected in the first round Jeremy Corbyn?

It’s probably too soon to say.

It’s been a pretty good week for Corbyn. Roughly two thirds of the Parliamentary Party and 17 out of 28 voting members of the Shadow Cabinet supported him in his opposition to British air strikes in Syria. And Corbyn supporters will see the result in Oldham as confirmation that Labour can win elections – including the General Election – under his leadership.

But Oldham West and Royton was special. There was an immensely popular Labour candidate with high name recognition; the party was able to mobilise considerable resources that would not be available in a wider election; and almost a quarter of the votes cast were postal votes garnered largely from the loyal British Pakistani and British Bangladeshi communities.

In 2001, Labour won a by-election in the adjoining constituency of Oldham East and Saddleworth but, in the General Election of 2015, nationally it went down in flames. So it’s probably too soon to draw firm lessons from this week’s by-election.

Meanwhile Corbyn’s job ratings have fallen sharply since he won the Labour leadership in September. Compared to a net approval rating then of -8, it now stands at -41. The fight goes on …

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