Which? has launched its election manifesto detailing the key reforms it believes the next government should bring forward to improve consumer outcomes and boost economic growth.. Your spending accounts for 60% of the economy, but too often your problems are overlooked and your voice goes unheard.Our proposals include a dedicated Fraud Minister, stronger protection for travellers when airlines break the law and for all tradespeople who install home heat pumps, solar panels and insulation to be made to sign up to an accreditation scheme.Read on for more details on our calls.Protection for big purchasesWe want you to be better protected when buying expensive items.In travel, the Civil Aviation Authority, the sector's regulator, is supposed to protect you if something goes wrong with a holiday you've bought, but its powers are inadequate. It should be able to fine airlines directly instead of going through the courts as it must do now.In car sales and home improvements, there is currently no single ombudsman to settle disputes when a rogue trader or cowboy builder fails to deliver on the product or service promised.And in the UK (unlike other parts of the world) consumers can’t club together to seek fair and affordable compensation through the courts.Underlying all this, there must be a fundamental review and reform of the under-resourced Trading Standards which leaves consumers inadequately protected.Find out more: Better retirement outcomesMany people will have a poor living standard in retirement because they’re not saving enough: 4.1 million people are projected to have an income below £12,800 a year, the minimum retirement living standard defined by the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association.The next government needs to:Set out a timetable for increased minimum automatic enrolment pension contributions. The current minimum contribution is 5% from employees and 3% from employers.Introduce a law so small pension pots can be automatically consolidated to cut needless costs for having lots of small pots.Find out more: Banking and broadband accessIn a world increasingly dominated by digital finance, people, often elderly or in low-income communities, still rely on bank branches and cash to manage finances and pay bills. But more than half of branches open at the start of 2015 have now closed.To help ease the problem, at least 200 shared banking hubs should be set up in the first two years of the new government.Meanwhile, affordable good-quality broadband and mobile connections are now essential for education, employment, vital services, access to better products, and communication with loved ones. But around half a million premises don’t have access to decent broadband via a fixed connection. The next government should increase the current minimum legal download speed of 10mb/s which is too slow to meet the needs of today’s consumers.A long-term ambition for a future government should be to lower the VAT rate on connectivity (20%) so it’s in line with other essential services like energy (5%).And it should boost rural access to 5G connections across the Shared Rural Network which is currently only targeting 4G coverage. This is despite the current government’s ambition for populated areas to receive 5G by 2030.Find out more:Tackle online crimeFraud is now the most common crime in the UK, with £1.6bn in losses reported to Action Fraud in 2023. It’s increased massively in the digital age, and the huge growth of generative AI is likely to make the problem much bigger.Targeted fraud attacks against consumers are often perpetrated by organised crime groups that fund terrorism, human trafficking, and drugs.Which? championed and welcomed new laws such as the Online Safety Act and a world-leading mandatory authorised push payment fraud reimbursement scheme.The new government should:Appoint a Fraud Minister and make fighting fraud a national priority.Make telecoms providers, online advertising providers and domain registrars legally obliged to verify the legitimacy of users – just as banks and online platforms do.Lead a taskforce including public and private sectors to share intelligenceEstablish better consumer protections and dispute resolution across the payments landscape.Find out more: Strengthen product safetyWe want a new duty on online marketplaces to prevent the sale of unsafe products on their websites. These marketplaces are big business - 95% of people bought from one in the past two years. But lack of proper regulation and enforcement means they’ve created a gateway for products that fail UK safety standards. Our testing regularly reveals dangerous products, often imported from countries with lower standards. Find out more: Sustainable choicesThe UK’s net zero targets will require people to make their homes more energy efficient, move away from fossil fuels for home heating and switch to electric vehicles (EVs).Installing low-carbon heating systems, such as heat pumps, will dramatically reduce the carbon emissions from homes, while improving insulation will mean households can use less energy and have lower bills. To reach home energy efficiency targets, 60% of UK homes will need to be upgraded by 2035.The next government must set out clear timelines to help consumers make this transition.Households need help in identifying the right measures for their home, support with high upfront costs and a straightforward way to find qualified and reliable installers. We want the government to introduce a deadline by which all installers must be certified.To help drivers switch to EVs, we want the government, among other measures, to mandate minimum charge point numbers at specific sitesFind out more:
source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/what-which-wants-from-the-next-government-aXAyb5L7KTr0
source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/what-which-wants-from-the-next-government-aXAyb5L7KTr0