Policy and Government

CAP has provided an executive summary for the Consumer Council’s Draft Forward Work Programme 2018/2019. This publication looks ahead to the work the Consumer Council is planning to undertake in Northern Ireland over the next two years. We were pleased to hear about the partnership to be formed between the Consumer Council and HM Treasury in order to combat illegal money lending, as well as the plans to reduce digital exclusion. We suggested that there should be greater emphasis placed on ensuring offline channels remain open for those who are digitally excluded. Read our full response below.

Christians Against Poverty (CAP) has responded to the FCA’s consultation, Our future approach to consumers. We were pleased to see the development of plans from the FCA’s mission, released last April, and the growing emphasis on protecting vulnerable consumers. The expectation for firms to take reasonable steps in identifying vulnerability was welcomed, but we had concerns about the FCA's new definition of vulnerability. The new definition states that firms should be able to readily identify vulnerability, when in reality vulnerability is not easily identifiable. To read more, click below.

Ofgem is due to release a new safeguard tariff, extending financial protection to a million more vulnerable consumers who are currently on Standard Variable Tariffs. We have responded to this initial consultation, looking at the scope and methodology of the new price cap. It will cover consumers who are disengaged and vulnerable, but not those on a prepayment meter as there is already a price cap covering them. Take a look at our response below.

Christians Against Poverty (CAP) was pleased to feed into the Banking Standards Board's (BSB) consultation, ‘What do good banking outcomes look like to consumers?' The consultation provided real-life examples of what consumers both want and need, and CAP was able to provide additional suggestions from experience of clients in financial difficulty. CAP hopes that this input will inform the BSB as they write up their guidance.

CAP has responded to HM Treasury's consultation on a statutory breathing space and debt management plan. This consultation outlined the current plans, due to be brought into legislation in the coming months. CAP was happy to see breathing space make headway in Government, but is concerned that unless breathing space also covers the public sector, it will be a step back in progress. To read our full response please click below.