Voices for Change: the Consumer Right to Representation

World Consumer Rights Day 2002: Voices for Change
One important issue is whether representation
is by a dedicated consumer body made up of
a number of members, or by consumer representatives
sitting on a body alongside people
representing other interests. Which is most
effective depends on the particular situation.
A closely related issue is whether consumer
representatives are a minority or majority on
such bodies. Poorly supported lone
consumers on committees full of government
and industry experts can be intimidated and
have little chance to be effective.
In some cases, members or staff of consumer
organisations fill representative roles.
Elsewhere, the government or industry body
appoints individuals, sometimes with open
invitations to the public to apply and formal
selection procedures. Continuous liaison
between different groups within the consumer
movement, and with other NGOs, is often
important to provide information and support
for representatives. Conversely, rivalry
between groups seeking to play a
representative role can be destructive.
To be effective, consumer representatives need
to have clear powers to influence policy and
the right to challenge decisions. They need
access to information and resources. Ideally,
dedicated consumer committees and councils
need to be supported by staff and have a
budget to conduct their own research and
consultation among ordinary consumers.
Consumer representatives should also have
defined duties – to conduct their work
transparently and openly, to preserve their
independence and to represent consumers as
well as they can. Individual representatives
should be remunerated at an appropriate level
for their time. Often individual representatives
are more effective if they receive training to
sharpen their skills and knowledge relevant to
the subjects they are dealing with.
Model 2: Formal open consultation
This model involves formal, open processes of
consultation on specific policy issues. Typically,
a consultation document is published
containing proposals or options, and responses
are invited from any individual or organisation
that wants to comment. The subjects range
from government, regulatory and industry
policy on consumer issues to plans for land
use, public amenity developments and changes
in systems for local democracy.
The practicalities also vary. Publication can be
by specially printed consultation papers made
available on request, documents sent to
people in their homes, leaflets made available
in public buildings, and pages on the web.
Further publicity and “outreach” can be
achieved by public exhibitions, use of the
mass media and by requests to consumer
organisations and other NGOs to respond to
the consultation. Meetings of interested
parties are sometimes arranged to clarify
responses, particularly from key recognised
trade bodies and consumer organisations.
Usually there is a time limit for responses.
It is good practice for the decision-making
body to publish a summary account of the
consultation responses alongside its
eventual decisions.
Consumer organisations find that responding
to open consultation is a useful way of
influencing policy. One great advantage for
NGOs is that they can choose to respond at
whatever length and at whatever level of
detail that they see fit. NGOs can thus
respond to a wide range of consultations,
concentrating resources on those that they see
as high priority, while producing briefer and
less detailed responses for lower-priority
subjects. This leaves the NGO with greater
control of the resources devoted to a
particular subject than is generally the case
when they sit on committees governed by
more rigid agendas and work plans. However,
this relationship is clearly defined as
consultation rather than negotiation: the
exercise is usually a trawl for views from all
interest groups, and all the power to make the
decision rests with the original authority.
An even more formal version of open
consultation involves public enquiries and
hearings, where groups representing the
interested parties present evidence. Resources
are required for the consumer voice to be
heard at these hearings – sometimes to fund
legal assistance. One advantage of this
method of consultation is that more of the
arguments are played out in public.
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