Another 14 months for Postwatch

Ministers at the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR) have today agreed a date for establishing the new National Consumer Council which will bring together Postwatch, Energywatch and the current NCC. The Secretary of State, John Hutton, approved the recommendation from the Consumer Minister, Gareth Thomas that the new body will be in place with effect from 1st October 2008.

Ministers believe that an October date will ensure the success of the merger and go the furthest towards achieving the merger objectives and providing a better deal for consumers, envisaged by the Consumer, Estate Agents and Redress Act.

The key issues which led Ministers to decide an October start-up date are:

• Consumer Direct are key to the new consumer experience on Energy and Postal complaints, and they will not be in a position to take those calls until October.
• October will allow the new CEO and council to give all staff a fair deal through the transition and ensure the decisions they make on the structure of the new organisation deliver a world class consumer organisation.
• The Post Office Network Restructuring Programme, currently underway with the support of Postwatch, will be almost complete by October thus allowing the new body to have a fresh start in representing consumer interests in the new Post Office network