Consumer Council Research Articles

The Law of the School: A Parentʼs Guide to Education Law in Scotland, Graham Atherton et al (Scottish Consumer Council, HMSO, 1987) pp. 260, £5.95

The Law of the School: A Parentʼs Guide to Education Law in Scotland, Graham Atherton et al (Scottish Consumer Council, HMSO, 1987) pp. 260, £5.95

Reply to the comment by Pestoff

Victor Pestoff (1987) asks in his comments on my article (Jensen, 1986) why wage-earner organizations such as, e.g., LO and FTF, were not considered as consumer organizations in my 1978 study of organized consumer action in Denmark. In this connection he draws attention to the discussion some years ago in JCP on the possibilities for German trade unions to act as consumer organizations. He also mentions some empirical studies within and outside Scandinavia, in which wage-earner organizations have in fact been considered as consumer organizations on a par with more traditional ones. The explanation is in part methodological, as it is a consequence of the procedure used in 1978 to compose the sample of organizations to be examined in the study. As the Danish Government Home Economics Council and the Consumer Council undoubtedly are two of the main actors within organized consumer action in Denmark, I selected a preliminary list of 13 organizations from those represented on the boards of these two bodies. All of these organizations were then asked, if in their opinion the sample could be considered to be representative of organized consumer action in Denmark. This procedure resulted in the addition of two further organizations which on inquiry both perceived themselves to be actors within the Danish consumer movement. In this way the sample came to be composed of 15 organizations among which LO and FTF were not represented. Pestoff might then rightly ask: Why were LO and FTF not considered in the preliminary list, since they had seats on the board of the Consumer Council? My grounds were then, and are still, the following: All employees are, of course, also consumers, but they are primarily wage-earners. Even in a situation with unemployment, we do not find many examples in which the -consumer -problems of the unemployed take preference. At the individual level this is reflected by the fact that consumer interests normally have to give way to employee and wage-earner interests, if there is a perceived conflict between them. At the societal level this is reflected by the fact that LO and FTF, for

Consumer Congress Directory 7th editionConsumer Congress Directory 7th edition Published by The Consumers' Association 316 entries £2 single, reducing for multiples 0-948231-20-3

The directory lists organisations which make up the Consumer Congress, receiving support from the National Consumer Council. It aims to promote consumers' interests and publicise the organisations. Having said all that, I do not know how some are in and others not. The omissions certainly detract from the book's value to health care staff.

BOOK REVIEWS

M.G. Graham and D.O. Hughes, Containerisation in the EightiesRaymond J. Waldmann, Managed Trade: the New Competition Between NationsSimon Webley. Stiffening the Sinews of the Nations: Economic Infrastructure in the United States, United Kingdom and CanadaNational Consumer Council, Air Transport and the Consumer: a Need for Change?Warren C. Baum and Stokes M. Tolbert, Investing in Development: Lessons of World Bank Experience

Book reviews

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Schools D. Lawton and P. Gordon, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1987, pp.x+180, £14.95 (hardback). What's Wrong With Walking? A Consumer Review of the Pedestrian Environment, National Consumer Council, HMSO, March 1987, pp.151, £4.95. Pedestrians. An Action Guide to Your Neighbourhood Problems, National Consumer Council, March 1987, pp.88, £3.00. Property and Industrial Development, S. Fothergill, S. Monk and M. Perry, Hutchinson, 1987, pp.187, £12.95 (paperback). Whatever Happened to Planning?, Peter Ambrose, Methuen, 1986, pp.288, £8.95 (paperback). Decentralization and Democracy, Paul Hoggett and Robin Hambleton (eds), Occasional Paper no.28, University of Bristol, School for Advanced Urban Studies, 1987, pp.269, £6.95. Achieving Economy, Efficiency and Effectiveness in the Public Sector, Cyril R. Tomkins, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, 1987, pp.115, £5.00 (paperback). Managing to Survive: Running Local Authority Services under Competition, Norman Flynn and Kieron Walsh, Association of Direct Labour Organizations, 1986, pp.53, £5.00 (paperback). Basic Planning Law and Practice, College of Law, 1987, pp.131, £7.50. Current Problems in Planning, College of Law, 1987, pp.83, £6.50. After Abolition: A report on the impact of abolition of the Metropolitan County Councils and the Greater London Council on the voluntary sector ‐ and the outlook for the future, National Council for Voluntary Organizations, pp.137, January 1987, £2 for voluntary organizations, £5 others.

FOOD AND THE NATIONAL CONSUMER COUNCIL

The National Consumer Council, financed by a grant from the Department of Trade and Industry, aims to independently research, report, persuade and campaign on issues concerning consumers. Its work in the food activity has focused recently on three main issues: labels on food products to inform consumers about food contents in an easily understood manner; irradiation and its effect on consumers, particularly on their right to know whether food has been subject to irradiation; harmonisation in the EEC; food policy, particularly the representation of consumer organisations in industry.

STRATA TITLES: A SYSTEM OF FLAT OWNERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

In 1984, when a Government committee under the chairmanship of Mr E. G. Nugee QC was set up to look into the problems of management of privately owned blocks of flats (see Property Management Vol 5 No 2), both the National Consumer Council and the Building Societies Association, in their findings submitted to the committee, advocated the adoption of the Australian strata title system to replace the long leasehold. More recently, the Law Commission has called for the creation of a ‘commonhold’ system of ownership similar to the condominium concept in the United States and the strata title system in Australia. This paper presents the concept of strata titles as a system of flat ownership and management. The term ‘flat’ here is not confined to that for residential occupation but has a wider application extending to ‘airspace’. The paper examines the formation of a strata scheme, the legal and planning implications of ownership and, finally, the framework of operation.

The supply of services: an analysis of the British Gas Servicing Contract

This paper is based on a research project carried out for the National Gas Consumer Council, and is an independent assessment of the standard terms contained in the British Gas Servicing Contract — in particular the comprehensive parts and labour contract offered for a complete central heating system. The paper analyses certain clauses that have given rise to particular comment, for example, Clause 1 Period of Agreement, Clause 3 Annual Service, Clause 4 Breakdown in Service (spare parts). The conclusion drawn is that these clauses are notable for their one‐sidedness, and that legislation giving rights to the consumer to challenge ‘unfair terms’ is insufficient to protect the consumer against large corporations. Additional safeguards suggested include a set of guidelines, an arbitration provision and better publicity.

THE GREAT GRAIN ROBBERS

Speaking recently to the Royal Overseas League in London Michael Montague, Chairman of the National Consumer Council, compared the results of the EEC's Common Agricultural Policy to the work of the great train robbers. He said, ‘On the 8th August 1963, the Great Train Robbers got away with £2.25 million. In 1985, the Great Grain Robbers, and their allies the great beef, butter, sugar, fruit, vegetable, and wine robbers, are costing the UK's 56 million consumers £1 billion a year in higher food prices — the equivalent of eight and a half train robberies a week! The Common Agricultural Policy is a blot on Europe's economic, social and political landscape. It is bad for consumers. It is bad for taxpayers. It is bad for farmers. It is bad for our industry. It is bad for Europe.’

Book notes

Better Housing for Britain, President's Committee on Housing (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors), 1985, pp. 61, £3.50. Caring for Unemployed People: A Study of the Impact of Unemployment on Demand for Personal Social Services, Susan Balloch, Chris Hume, Brian Jones and Peter Westland, Bedford Square Press, 1985, pp. 140, £5.95. Computers in Social Work, Bryan Glastonbury, Macmillan, 1985, pp. 144, £12.50 hardback, £4.95 paperback. Information Systems for Policy Planning in Local Government, John R. England, Keith I. Hudson, Richard J. Masters, Kay S. Powell, Jon D. Shortridge (eds), Longman (in association with BURISA), 1985, pp. 420, £15.00. Service Administration by Local Authorities Philip L. Lloyd ICSA Publishing, 1985, pp. 324, £14.95. Who Gets Council Homes in Wales? Welsh Consumer Council, 1985, pp. 66, No charge.

L. Fagin and M. Little, The Forsaken Families, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1984. 271 pp. £3.95. - J. Ditch, Hard Terms: Unemployment and Supplementary Benefit in Northern Ireland, Working Paper 3, National Consumer Council, London, 1984. 44 pp. Free of charge.

L. Fagin and M. Little, The Forsaken Families, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1984. 271 pp. £3.95. - J. Ditch, Hard Terms: Unemployment and Supplementary Benefit in Northern Ireland, Working Paper 3, National Consumer Council, London, 1984. 44 pp. Free of charge. - Volume 14 Issue 3

Marketing of irradiated commodities in South Africa

Although the industrial exploitation of radiation processing in the medical and allied fields has been successfully marketed and applied for the past two decades in South Africa, the introduction of food radurisation on an industrial level adds a completely new dimension to the marketing of this processing technique. Extensive research into the use of radiation for the treatment of various foodstuffs has been carried out by the Nuclear Development Corporation of South Africa for more than a decade, resulting in South Africa being one of the first countries where a commercial irradiator dedicated to this branch of radiation processing, was established. The marketing of this process is especially difficult due to the emotive aspects associated with radiation and man's sensitive reaction to anything pertaining to his food. This situation was made even more difficult by the general public's apprehension towards nuclear activities throughout the world. In an attempt to transform the unfavourable public image associated with this process, an important first step was to form a National Steering Committee for the Marketing of Radurised Food, the members of which were drawn from various agricultural controlling bodies, the Department of Health, and other controlling bodies held in high esteem by the public, such as the Consumer Council and representatives from commerce and industry. This approach proved to be very successful and greatly assisted in creating a climate whereby the public in South Africa today generally has a favourable attitude towards the radurisation of foodstuffs. The development of this marketing strategy for food radurisation in South Africa is discussed in detail.

Nationalised Industry Consumer Councils and the Monitoring of Financial Performance

Nationalised Industry Consumer Councils and the Monitoring of Financial Performance

Book Reviews : Patients' Rights. A guide for NHS patients and doctors by National Consumer Council. Published by HMSO, 1983. Pp 60. Price £1.50 Paperback. ISBN 0 11 701044 8

Book Reviews : Patients' Rights. A guide for NHS patients and doctors by National Consumer Council. Published by HMSO, 1983. Pp 60. Price £1.50 Paperback. ISBN 0 11 701044 8

University-based research into the British housing system

This paper presents the results of a survey of housing research in progress in the British universities in 1983. It is limited to those studies of the British housing system based on the languages of the social sciences, and excludes Ph.D. work. The paper’s objective is to review the scale and the content of such investigations as well as to look at questions concerning the dissemination of results, communication between researchers and funding arrangements. No register exists of current housing research in Britain, nor of universitybased work, and thus it was impossible for me to draw a sample from the known universe of relevant persons and projects. Instead, a ‘snowball’ technique was used. A list of persons was first drawn up based on my own knowledge of current activity. Interviews were then set up with these people and at each meeting the respondent was asked to give the names of other relevant persons in his or her university. At this stage the total number of projects surveyed was forty-three. The first draft of this paper was then prepared and presented to the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) conference held in Bristol in September 1983. Thereafter, primarily through postal questionnaires, 17 more projects were added to the survey, giving a grand total of 60. Questionnaires were sent (but not returned) to another 10 persons who I believe are currently engaged in research in this field. Thus in terms of the universe of researchers I have to date established to be working in this field the response rate on the basis of number of projects was equal to 86%. Before continuing it is essential to repeat that the survey covers only university-based social science research under way in 1983. Thus it excludes Ph.D. work, although this is frequently not finished and if finished not published; the survey leaves aside research in other institutions of higher education, particularly the polytechnics; it does not include any government research either at central, or local level, nor that of the private sector, such as it is, nor that of quangos (‘Quasi-Autonomous Non-Governmental Organisations’) like the National Consumer Council, nor the investigations of the voluntary sector organisations such as SHAC and Shelter. Moreover the coverage is limited to work under way in the calendar year 1983. Clearly, a study which broadened its institutional scope and its time-period would give different results from this very modest effort of mine. Any such review would require very substantial resources if it were to be done well. The current labours of Niner and Groves at Birmingham University to produce a comprehensive register of housing research makes a start although, in itself, such a register derived mainly from existing research registers is likely to be of limited value _

Book reviews

Abstract Welfare Law and Order. Peter Alcock and Phil Harris. Macmillan Press, 1982. Critical Texts in Social Work and the Welfare State. 219 pp. £5.95. Delinquency: Its Roots, Careers and Prospects. D. J. West. Heinemann, London, 1982. 186 pp. Paperback: £5.50. Cased: £13.50. Housing Law Reports (1). Andrew Arden (Ed.,) George Godwin, 1982, 152pp. £13.50. The Homeless Persons Act. Andrew Arden, Legal Action Group, 1982, 190pp. £6.50. Homelessness: What it means and how to deal with it. Manchester Law Centre, 14pp. 30 pence inc. postage. Social Security Taxation. David W. Williams. Sweet & Maxwell, 1982, 536pp. Hardback £40. Computer benefits? Guidelines for local information and advice centres. Pennie Ottley and Elaine Kempson, National Consumer Council, 1982. 104 pp. £3.00.

Reviews : An unusual union A PATIENT'S guide to the national health service. Published by Con sumers Association and Hodder and Stoughton. £3.95. PATIENTS' rights. A guide for NHS patients and doctors. National Con sumer Council published by H.M.S.O. Price £1.50

Reviews : An unusual union A PATIENT'S guide to the national health service. Published by Con sumers Association and Hodder and Stoughton. £3.95. PATIENTS' rights. A guide for NHS patients and doctors. National Con sumer Council published by H.M.S.O. Price £1.50

Book notes

Consumer Problems in Rural Areas, G. A. Mackay and G. Laing; Scottish Consumer Council, 1982, pp.145, £3.00. Entrepreneurship and the New Firm, D. J. Storey, Croom Helm, 1982, pp. 233, £13.95. Local Finance for Local Government: Report of a Working Party, Liberal Party HQ, 1982, pp.29, 50p. Community Development — Towards a National Perspective: The Work of the Community Projects Foundation 1978–82, Community Projects Foundation, 1982, pp.128, £1.75. Institutions and Energy Conservation: Proceedings of a Conference, Policy Studies Institute/Royal Institute of Public Administration, 1981, pp.72, £3.00. Planning the Urban Region: A Comparative Study of Policies and Organisations, Peter Self, Allen and Unwin, 1982, pp.174, £5.95 paperback, £12.95 hardback. Council Action for a Socialist Economy, Socialist Environment and Resources Association, 1982, pp.35, £1.20. Housing in Britain: The Post‐War Experience, John R. Short, Methuen, 1982, pp.255, £5.95. Value for Money Audits: Proceedings of a Seminar, Royal Institute of Public Administration, 1982, pp.45, £2.50.

Improving insulation standards in existing dwellings

There is increasing evidence that major investment in better insulation of domestic buildings is worthwhile and cost effective, whatever economic criteria are employed. This article summarizes the main issues involved in a major scheme of insulation improvements to UK housing, and presents key findings of the recent paper Improving Insulation in Existing Dwellings, published by the Electricity Consumers' Council and the National Consumer Council. The two options recommended are ambitious, but necessarily so: given the behavioural arguments about motivation of individual consumers, anything less ambitious is unlikely to succeed.

Consumers and the changing public sector

A combination of financial stringency and technological advance is changing the face of the public sector. The National Consumer Council, set up in 1975, exists to see that the consumer interest, in this as in other areas, is not lost sight of.