The government’s recognised markets aren’t working — now it’s time to fix them
This is the headline of a blog posting by Citizens Advice about the Government’s Consumer Green Paper published this week.
Citizens Advice highlights four issues especially:
- Consulting on creating an independent consumer advocate for telecoms. Telecoms is increasingly critical to our lives and our economy and yet — unlike all other essential markets — there’s no statutory independent advocate. We look forward to the government taking necessary steps to address this.
- Developing scorecards for suppliers in essential markets to hold them to account for outcomes, and name and shame poor performers.
- Giving the Competition and Markets Authority a new direction, signalling a shift in what good markets look like. The government wants to see them focus more on protecting consumers, incorporate behavioural economics and help fix the country’s productivity crisis.
- Considering new standards for how people with mental health conditions and cognitive impairments are served in essential markets.