Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of trends in consumer satisfaction with customer service provision across key regulated sectors.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Access to customer service channels is not something that has been raised recently by my Department or the consumer groups and representative bodies we regularly meet.
My Department regularly reviews research, and notes that the most recent UK Customer Satisfaction Index found 83.2% of customer experiences were right first time, the highest recorded since the UKCSI has been running (2008).
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what engagement his Department has undertaken with consumer groups regarding access to customer service channels.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Access to customer service channels is not something that has been raised recently by my Department or the consumer groups and representative bodies we regularly meet.
My Department regularly reviews research, and notes that the most recent UK Customer Satisfaction Index found 83.2% of customer experiences were right first time, the highest recorded since the UKCSI has been running (2008).
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has considered introducing minimum accessibility standards for customer service functions to ensure consumers can access a human representative where necessary.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Legislation provides the redress rights for consumers. Beyond this, the government does not generally intervene in how businesses choose to conduct their activities as this is a commercial decision.
Businesses have a legal obligation under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (CCRs), when trading with consumers, to provide contact information in a clear and comprehensible manner which is easily, directly and permanently accessible. This includes the business name, the geographical address where the business is established, a telephone number, and email address to allow consumers to make contact quickly and efficiently if there is a problem. Failure of a trader to provide the information required under the CCRs is a breach of contract and can result in a claim being brought by the consumer.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of existing consumer protection legislation in the context of companies that provide customer support solely through automated systems.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Everyone should be able to benefit from the digital world – helping families save money, get a better job, and access services like the NHS more easily. But we know some people face real barriers. That’s why government published the Digital Inclusion Action Plan and launched the £11.9 million Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund, helping more people across the UK get the access, skills and confidence to get online.
Legislation provides the redress rights for consumers. Beyond this, the government does not generally intervene in how businesses choose to conduct their activities as this is a commercial decision.
However, we encourage key private sector services important to people’s daily lives – like banking, utilities and online shopping – to prioritise inclusive digital services and government remains committed to working with industry and the voluntary sector to explore opportunities to align.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that reliance on automated customer service systems does not impede consumers’ ability to make complaints or seek redress.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Everyone should be able to benefit from the digital world – helping families save money, get a better job, and access services like the NHS more easily. But we know some people face real barriers. That’s why government published the Digital Inclusion Action Plan and launched the £11.9 million Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund, helping more people across the UK get the access, skills and confidence to get online.
Legislation provides the redress rights for consumers. Beyond this, the government does not generally intervene in how businesses choose to conduct their activities as this is a commercial decision.
However, we encourage key private sector services important to people’s daily lives – like banking, utilities and online shopping – to prioritise inclusive digital services and government remains committed to working with industry and the voluntary sector to explore opportunities to align.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what data his Department holds on consumer complaints relating to the inability to contact a human representative when seeking to resolve disputes.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Everyone should be able to benefit from the digital world – helping families save money, get a better job, and access services like the NHS more easily. But we know some people face real barriers. That’s why government published the Digital Inclusion Action Plan and launched the £11.9 million Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund, helping more people across the UK get the access, skills and confidence to get online.
Legislation provides the redress rights for consumers. Beyond this, the government does not generally intervene in how businesses choose to conduct their activities as this is a commercial decision.
However, we encourage key private sector services important to people’s daily lives – like banking, utilities and online shopping – to prioritise inclusive digital services and government remains committed to working with industry and the voluntary sector to explore opportunities to align.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions he has had with major digital service providers regarding access to non-automated customer service channels.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Everyone should be able to benefit from the digital world – helping families save money, get a better job, and access services like the NHS more easily. But we know some people face real barriers. That’s why government published the Digital Inclusion Action Plan and launched the £11.9 million Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund, helping more people across the UK get the access, skills and confidence to get online.
Legislation provides the redress rights for consumers. Beyond this, the government does not generally intervene in how businesses choose to conduct their activities as this is a commercial decision.
However, we encourage key private sector services important to people’s daily lives – like banking, utilities and online shopping – to prioritise inclusive digital services and government remains committed to working with industry and the voluntary sector to explore opportunities to align.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with the Competition and Markets Authority regarding the transparency of customer service access routes offered by large digital companies.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
My Department regularly meets with the Competition and Markets Authority, but has not recently discussed transparency of customer service access routes offered by large digital companies.
Legislation provides the redress rights for consumers. Beyond this, the government does not generally intervene in how businesses choose to conduct their activities as this is a commercial decision.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the impact of automated customer service systems, including chatbots and AI-based systems, on consumers’ ability to exercise their statutory rights.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Everyone should be able to benefit from the digital world – helping families save money, get a better job, and access services like the NHS more easily. But we know some people face real barriers. That’s why government published the Digital Inclusion Action Plan and launched the £11.9 million Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund, helping more people across the UK get the access, skills and confidence to get online.
Legislation provides the redress rights for consumers. Beyond this, the government does not generally intervene in how businesses choose to conduct their activities as this is a commercial decision.
However, we encourage key private sector services important to people’s daily lives – like banking, utilities and online shopping – to prioritise inclusive digital services and government remains committed to working with industry and the voluntary sector to explore opportunities to align.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure timely postal deliveries by Royal Mail.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Last year, I met the CEOs of Royal Mail and its parent company and raised concerns about Royal Mail’s performance. They reported continued targeted action to improve reliability. I will continue to raise concerns with Royal Mail if the company’s quality of service does not improve.
It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to set and monitor Royal Mail’s service standards and decide how to use its powers to investigate and take enforcement action should Royal Mail fail to achieve its obligations without good justification.
In October last year, Ofcom fined Royal Mail £21 million for failing to meet its quality of service targets and has told Royal Mail it must urgently publish and implement a credible plan that delivers major and continuous improvement.