Scam-tackling system 'fragmented'

14 June 2011 Last updated at 23:00 GMT Worried consumers will soon have calls taken by the Citizens Advice charity The system to protect consumers from scams that cost them billions of pounds is "fragmented and significantly underequipped", a report has concluded.

Trading standards departments, which are facing cuts in funding, are using two incompatible databases to share intelligence, the National Audit Office (NAO) said.

Meanwhile, some local departments are not taking on UK-wide cases.

The cost to consumers of these cases is at least ?4.8bn a year, the NAO said.

"Consumers in this country believe that they are well-protected but the reality does not support this view," said Amyas Morse, head of the NAO.

"The system for enforcing consumer law is fragmented and significantly underequipped to tackle a whole range of serious consumer scams."

Rip-offs

Bogus e-mails aimed at conning people out of their money cost UK consumers an estimated ?3.5bn a year on a national level. Counterfeit goods add another ?1.3bn onto that bill.

Consumers also lost money as a result of shoddy or unnecessary work sold by rogue traders on the doorstep. But the NAO said there were no reliable figures showing the total amount lost.

The NAO said that the lack of proper evaluation of these figures was leading to an inefficient allocation of resources to tackle these rip-offs nationally.

While some trading standards departments, operated by local authorities, did take on national "cross-border" cases, many did not. Smaller departments, some of which had just two members of staff, would be less likely to take them on.

Three of 11 regional teams that were supposed to tackle issues across a number of council areas have been closed, the report said. The remainder only have short-term arrangements.

In addition, the service is facing budget cuts. Annual funding from the Department for Business is expected to fall from ?213m now to between ?140m and ?170m by 2014.

Data-sharing

Rogue traders tend to operate in one area, then move on to others, partly to escape the authorities.

As a result, the Office of Fair Trading set up an intelligence-sharing database in March 2010. The NAO said only half of the 197 trading standards services in England had committed to using it.

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We should not lose sight of the fact that local authority trading standards services take on large scale cases for the benefit of consumers and businesses day-in day-out and continue to punch above their weight”

End Quote Steve Greenfield Association of Chief Trading Standards Officers Another 30 services were using an alternative, incompatible database which had been set up by one trading standards region.

The government-backed Consumer Direct service, which allows consumers to report incidents and receive advice, is soon to be taken over by Citizens Advice.

The NAO warned that this must still be a useful source of intelligence for trading standards officers when the service is taken over.

There remained a "lack of clarity" over who should take on prioritised cases.

Consumer minister Edward Davey said the report highlighted why changes were needed.

"The consumer protection landscape is in need of reform," he said.

"This is why we announced our intention to change the complex and overlapping system. Shortly we will publish our detailed proposals to improve the landscape for the benefit of consumers and businesses.

"The report rightly highlights that the ability of the current system to tackle consumer detriment across local authority boundaries is patchy at best. This is one of the key issues that the Department for Business consultation addresses."

The overall cost of unfair trading is estimated to be more than ?6bn a year.

"There is no doubt that the system as a whole is under-resourced. When a ?6.2bn problem is addressed with a ?213m - and falling - solution we know there are going to be shortfalls," said Andy Foster, of the Trading Standards Institute.

"What is important is that we use that resource to best effect to protect those citizens that are the most vulnerable to rogues, loan sharks and criminals who take advantage of them and that we empower the rest of the community to become consumer champions so that the system is still effective, but is not a drain on public resources."

Steve Greenfield, who chairs the Association of Chief Trading Standards Officers, accepted there were some issues with how cases were referred to national authorities.

"We should not lose sight of the fact that local authority trading standards services take on large scale cases for the benefit of consumers and businesses day-in day-out and continue to punch above their weight," he added.

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Fifa alters World Cup vote system

Sepp Blatter: "I am the ship's captain"

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has announced that World Cup host countries will in future be chosen by a vote of all the 208 member associations.

Until now, Fifa's 24-man executive committee has made the choice.

But the controversy surrounding the decision to award Russia the 2018 tournament and Qatar the 2022 event has prompted a change.

"I want to give more power to the national associations," said Blatter, who was re-elected on Wednesday.

"In the future, the World Cup will be decided by the Fifa congress. The executive committee will create a shortlist - but will make no recommendations, only a list - and the congress will decide on the venue."

A frenetic week of claim and counter-claim has seen Fifa's reputation seriously damaged.

But Blatter insists that any problems can be solved in-house and with him in charge.

"The Fifa ship is in troubled waters but this ship must be brought back on the right track," he added.

"I am the captain of the ship. It is therefore my duty and responsibility to see to it that we get back on track.

"Reforms will be made and not just touch-ups but radical decisions. We have made mistakes, but we will draw our conclusions.

"We have been hit and I personally have been slapped. I don't want that ever again.

"We must stop once and for all, all these ugly criticisms, allegations, insinuations of cheating left, right and centre."

Blatter, who has been in office since 1998, made an appeal for unity after a bruising period of public division.

"I hope that you will follow the path that I'm trying to change on this ship," added Blattter.

"We must know where we're going with our game to build a better future.

"Together we can do it, together we will get there, and together Fifa will once again find its credibility."

Blatter also said the chairman of the ethics committee - the watchdog group set up in 2006 to deal with claims of malpractice in Fifa - would in future also be elected by congress and suggested a committee would be set up to examine Fifa's corporate governance.

The 75-year-old was the only candidate in the presidential vote after his sole challenger, Mohamed Bin Hammam, withdrew from the contest last weekend.

The Qatari executive committee member was suspended on Sunday amid allegations of corruption, including claims he "bought" the 2022 World Cup for Qatar. He denies any wrongdoing.

On Wednesday, Football Association chairman David Bernstein called on the member associations to stop Blatter being re-elected unopposed but they voted by 172 votes to 17 not to postpone the election.

Among those who backed Blatter's re-election was Cyprus Football Association president Costakis Koutsokoumnis.

"In difficult times, Fifa needs a strong mandate," said Koutsokoumnis. "To do that it needs a strong leader and a strong president so we can move forward.

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We are confident the FA has played a significant role as a catalyst for change in the way World Cup hosts will be selected in the future

FA chairman David Bernstein

"It is my opinion that we should support Mr Blatter. He has done it before. We should support him to do it again. And it's now the time to show the solidarity that is needed for football to go forward."

Despite the lack of support for the FA's demand to postpone the presidential election, Bernstein insisted the organisation's stance had been "worthwhile".

"We are confident the FA has played a significant role as a catalyst for change in the way World Cup hosts will be selected in the future," he said in a statement released after the vote had been taken.

"This must be a more open transparent process."

In a separate development, the head of Germany's football federation, Theo Zwanziger, has called on Fifa to re-examine the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.

"I think there is a significant degree of suspicion that one cannot just dismiss," he told German television.

"And that is why I reckon that the awarding of this World Cup must be re-examined with regard to these concerns."

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