Advice to Policy Makers

The Consumer Panel advises Ofcom, from time to time it advises other bodies. The Consumer Panel examines and discusses Ofcom policies with Ofcom representatives at its monthly and supplementary meetings. When the Consumer Panel believes a formal intervention is needed, it will either submit an advice note to Ofcom's policy staff or Board, a consultation response or correspond directly with Ofcom's Chairman or Chief Executive.

Ofcom has a duty to consider the Consumer Panel's advice and make the Consumer Panel and others aware of its reasons for disregarding or disagreeing with its advice. Ofcom has agreed to publish its responses to the Consumer Panel's advice on our website (NB the names of some Ofcom representatives are removed to comply with Ofcom's data protection policies).

The Consumer Panel's advice to Ofcom, to others and responses from Ofcom can be found under the policy topics listed on the left.

Ofcom's work priorities and plans

	Panel advice	Responses from Ofcom
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Ofcom's priorities for Consumers	Letter from Colette Bowe to Ed Richards, Ofcom Chief Executive, on Ofcom's priorities for consumers, 20 November 2007 (pdf)	Letter from Ed Richards to Colette Bowe on Ofcom's priorities for consumers, 10 December 2007 (pdf)
Ofcom Draft Annual Plan 2007/8	Response to consultation on Ofcom's Draft Annual Plan 2007/8, 19 February 2007 (pdf)
Exchange on consumer priorities	Letter from Colette Bowe to Ed Richards, Ofcom Chief Executive, on Ofcom's priorities for consumers, 13 November 2006 (pdf)	Letter from Ed Richards to Colette Bowe on Ofcom's priorities for consumers, 1 December 2006 (pdf)
Nations and regions	Consumer Panel advice on Nations & Regions Policy Phase, 23 July 2006 (pdf)	Letter from Claudio Pollack to Colette Bowe in response to Panel advice on the Nations & Regions Policy Phase, 27 October 2006 (pdf)
Ofcom's Draft Annual Plan 2006/7	Response to consultation on Ofcom's Draft Annual Plan 2006/7, 8 February 2006 (pdf)
Consumer policy review	Information Paper 179(05) to the Ofcom Board : Ofcom Consumer Panel Advice on Ofcom's Consumer Policy Review, 8 December 2005 (pdf)	Letter from David Currie: Ofcom Board note on Consumer Panel Advice on the Consumer Policy Review, 20 December 2005 (pdf)
Consumer policy review	Letter from Colette Bowe to David Currie, 28 April 2005 (pdf)
Ofcom's Annual Plan 2005/6	Ofcom's Annual Plan 2005/6 - Consultation response from the Ofcom Consumer Panel, March 2005 (pdf)
Ofcom consultation on its Annual Plan for 2004/5	Letter from Colette Bowe to David Currie: Response from the Consumer Panel to the Ofcom consultation on its Annual Plan for 2004/5, 25 March 2004 (pdf)

Capturing the consumer interest in policy

	Panel advice	Responses from Ofcom
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Consumer interest toolkit		Letter from David Currie: Taking account of consumer and citizen interests - Progress and evaluation, 22 February 2007 (pdf) Ofcom statement: Taking account of consumer and citizen interests - Progress and evaluation, 28 February 2007 (pdf)
Consumer interest toolkit	Overview slides presented to the Ofcom Board on 11 October 2005 (pdf)
Consumer interest toolkit	Information paper 139(05) to the Ofcom Board: Consumer Interest Audit "Tool-Kit", 29 September 2005 (pdf) Note: Annexes 1 and 2 referred to in Information paper 139(05) were revised and made available in the Panel document Capturing the consumer interest: a toolkit for regulators and consumers (pdf), published on 2 February 2006.	Letter from David Currie: Ofcom's response to the Ofcom Consumer Panel consumer interest study, 14 December 2005 Note: David Currie 's letter was made available in the Panel document Capturing the consumer interest: a toolkit for regulators and consumers (pdf), published on 2 February 2006.
Impact assessment	Memo on Impact Assessment Guidelines, 6 June 2005 (pdf)	Response from Ofcom, 21 July 2005 (pdf)
Ofcom Consultation Process	Observations from Consumer Panel on Ofcom consultation process, 15 June 2004 (pdf)	Ofcom reply to Consumer Panel observations on Ofcom consultation process, 2 July 2004 (pdf)

Protecting consumers

	Panel advice	Responses from Ofcom
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Complaints handling and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)	Consumer Panel advice note on complaints handling and ADR, 22 February 2008 (pdf)	Response from Ofcom on ADR, 7 July 2008 (pdf)
Self- and co-regulation	Consumer Panel advice note on self- and co-regulation, 4 April 2007 (pdf)	Response form Ofcom on self- and co-regulation, 19 June 2008 (pdf)
Self- and co-regulation	Consumer Panel advice note on self- and co-regulation, 23 March 2007 (pdf)
Mis-selling	Response to consultation on Migrations, switching and mis-selling, April 2006 (pdf)
Mis-selling	Advice to Ofcom on migrations, switching and mis-selling, 22 November 2005 (pdf)
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)	Response to Ofcom's Review of Alternative Dispute Resolution Schemes, October 2005 (pdf)	Ofcom email on ADR Statement, 13 December 2005 (pdf) Note: includes comments on the Panel's consultation response.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)	Consumer Panel members comments on the 1st draft of Ofcom's ADR consultation, July 2005 (pdf)	Ofcom response to Panel members' comments, 21 July 2005 (pdf)
Emergency number - London bombings	Email from Colette Bowe to Ed Richards, 10 July 2005 (pdf)	Email from Ed Richards to Colette Bowe, 13 July 2005 (pdf) Briefing note referred to in Ed Richard's email, from Ofcom's Number Translation Services team, 11 July 2005 (pdf)
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)	Consumer Panel memo on Ofcom Review of Alternative Dispute Resolution Schemes: Draft Project Plan and Terms of Reference, 25 February 2005 (pdf)
Premium Rate Services (PRS)	Note to Ofcom on review of the regulation of Premium Rate Services (PRS), 24 September 2004 (pdf)
Mis-selling	Response to consultation on Protecting citizen-consumers from mis-selling of fixed-line telecoms services, June 2004 (pdf)	Email response from Ofcom, 5 August 2004 (pdf)

Digital switchover

	Panel advice	Responses from Ofcom
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Digital switchover (DSO) audit of viewers' priorities	Consumer Panel advice on DSO audit of viewers' priorities 23 June 2006	Ofcom response to advice on DSO audit of viewers' priorities 7 July 2006
Culture, media & sport committee inquiry into analogue switch-off	Response from the Ofcom Consumer Panel - September 2005 (pdf)
Ofcom consultation on Planning Options for Digital Switchover	Response to Ofcom consultation on Planning Options for Digital Switchover, April 2005 (pdf)

Digital participation

	Panel advice	Responses from Ofcom
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Wholesale Broadband Access market	Note to Ofcom, 9 February 2006 (pdf)

Telecommunications

	Panel advice	Responses from Ofcom
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Broadband speeds	Letter on broadband speeds to Ed Richards, 18 December 2007 (pdf) The Panel has received correspondence on broadband speeds from the Committee of Advertising Practice. Letter to Colette Bowe from Roger Wisbey, 7 January 2008 (pdf)	Letter from Ed Richards to Colette Bowe on broadband speeds, 19 December 2007 (pdf)
Broadband speeds	An open letter on broadband speeds to the chief executives of the UK’s leading Internet Service Providers, 9 October 2007 (pdf)
Telephone Preference Service (TPS)	Letter to Minister at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on TPS, 9 July 2007 (pdf)
Telephone Preference Service (TPS)	Advice note in response to an Ofcom update on TPS, 2 July 2007 (pdf)	Ofcom response to the Panel's advice note, 26 November 2007 (pdf)
Quality of service (QoS)	Advice to Ofcom on its Quality of Service review, 18 May 2007 (pdf)	Ofcom memo in response to the Panel's advice note, 28 May 2007 (pdf)
Publication of BT financial reports	Advice note to Ofcom on BT's Regulatory Financial Reporting, 9 January 2006 (pdf)
Strategic Review of Telecommunications	Note of meeting with Ofcom on: Telecoms Review - Measuring Success, 9 October 2005 (pdf)	Letter from David Currie, 12 January 2006 (pdf) Letter from David Currie, 30 January 2006 (pdf)
Strategic Review of Telecommunications	Note to Stephen Carter, 19 September 2005 (pdf)
BT undertakings	Response to Ofcom consultation on undertakings offered by British Telecommunications plc in lieu of a reference under Part 4 of the Enterprise Act 2002, August 2005 (pdf)
Local Loop Unbundling (LLU)	Memo on Promoting LLU by protecting the margin available to LLU operators, 8 June 2005 (pdf)
Strategic Review of Telecommunications Phase 2	Response to consultation on Phase 2 of the review, 16 February 2005 (pdf)
Directory Enquiries Autumn 2004 market research	Note to Ofcom on Results of the Autumn 2004 Directory Enquires market research, 11 February 2005 (pdf)	Ofcom email with general feedback on the Board's response to the Panel's note, 24 February 2005 (pdf) Ofcom email with a detailed response to the Panel's note, 11 March 2005 (pdf)
Directory Enquiries Autumn 2004 market research	Note to Ofcom on Directory Enquiries - Autumn 2004 market research, 8 October 2004 (pdf)
Strategic Review of Telecommunications Phase 1	Response to consultation on Phase 1 of the review, June 2004 (pdf)
Directory Enquiries Spring 2004 market research	Note to the Ofcom Board in relation to Paper 74(04) - Results of the Spring 2004 Directory Enquiry market research and next steps, June 2004 (pdf) Note: Paper 74(04) was an internal Ofcom paper to the Board on Ofcom's report on the evaluation of Directory Enquiry services and next steps.
Directory Enquiries - switch-off of legacy numbers	Note to Ofcom on Switch-off of 192/153 legacy number, 14 April 2004 (pdf)

Digital dividend review

	Panel advice	Responses from Ofcom
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Digital Dividend Review (DDR) statement	Advice note to Ofcom on the Digital Dividend Review, 28 November 2007 (pdf)
Digital Dividend Review (DDR) consultation	Response to consultation on the Digital Dividend Review, 20 March 2007 (pdf)

Next generation access and networks

	Panel advice	Responses from Ofcom
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Next generation broadband	What is the value of next generation broadband?, 3 September 2008 (pdf)
Next generation access	Advice note to Ofcom, 28 August 2007 (pdf)
Next generation access	Note to Ofcom, 28 February 2007 (pdf)	Ofcom response, 4 July 2007 (pdf)
Next generation networks	Advice to Ofcom on NGN Policy and Consumer Panel Engagement, 6 March 2006 (pdf)

Universal service and usability

	Panel advice	Responses from Ofcom
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Universal Service Obligation (USO)	Response to Statement and further consultation on Ofcom's Review of the Universal Service Obligation, 27 September 2005 (pdf)
Ofcom section 10 responsibilities (duty to encourage availability of easily usable apparatus)	Response from the Consumer Panel to Ofcom's Section 10 duties: Proposals for 2006, 9 September 2005 (pdf)	Ofcom's response to the Consumer Panel comments, 21 October 2005 (pdf)
EU Review of the Scope of Universal Service	Ofcom Consumer Panel response to the EU Review of the Scope of Universal Service - July 2005 (pdf)
Universal Service Obligation (USO)	Response to consultation: Ofcom Review of the Universal Service Obligation, 6 April 2005 (pdf)	Email from Ofcom, 27 June 2005 (pdf)
Ofcom section 10 responsibilities (duty to encourage availability of easily usable apparatus)	Memo to Ofcom, 15 February 2005	Email from Ofcom, 12 May 2005 (pdf)
Universal Service Obligation (USO)	Note to Ofcom, 17 August 2004 (pdf)	Email from Ofcom, 9 September 2004 (pdf)

Public service broadcasting

	Panel advice	Responses from Ofcom
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Ofcom Review of Public Service Broadcasting, Phase 1	Ofcom Review of Public Service Broadcasting, Response from Ofcom Consumer Panel to Phase 1, June 2004 (pdf)

Radio

	Panel advice	Responses from Ofcom
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The Future of Radio	Response to Ofcom's consultation on The Future of Radio, 29 June 2007 (pdf)

Numbering

	Panel advice	Responses from Ofcom
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Telephone Numbering: safeguarding the future of numbers	Response to consultation on Telephone Numbering: safeguarding the future of numbers, 3 May 2006 (pdf)
Number Translation Services (NTS) Options for the Future	Response to consultation on NTS Options for the Future, 9 December 2005 (pdf)
NTS: Options for the future	NTS: Options for the future, formal advice note on an Ofcom briefing paper from the Ofcom Consumer Panel, 22 July 2005 (pdf)	NTS: Options for the Future, Ofcom Board response to advice note from the Ofcom Consumer Panel, 9 August 2005 (pdf)
NTS research	Memo on NTS research brief, 8 March 2005 (pdf)
Ofcom NTS consultation	Response to Ofcom NTS consultation, January 2005 (pdf)	Email response from Ofcom, 10 February 2005 (pdf)
Ofcom NTS review	2^nd Note to Ofcom on NTS review, 27 October 2004 (pdf)
Ofcom NTS review	1^st Note to Ofcom on NTS review, 6 September 2004 (pdf)
Ofcom Numbering Strategy	Letter from Colette Bowe to David Currie, Numbering issues, 18 June 2004 (pdf) Consumer Panel observations on Ofcom Numbering Strategy, 21 June 2004 (pdf)
Numbering issues: communication with consumers and businesses	Letter from Colette Bowe to David Currie, Numbering issues: communication with consumers and businesses, 13 May 2004 (pdf)

Representing consumers' views

	Panel advice	Responses from Ofcom
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DTI consultation on consumer representation and redress	Response from the Ofcom Consumer Panel - April 2006 (pdf) As part of the DTI consultation exercise, the Consumer Panel was requested to supply information to KPMG to enable the completion of the Regulatory Impact Assessment. Our submissions about the Panel's profile and resources are listed below. KPMG organisation profile document (pdf) KPMG costing profile (pdf) KPMG headcount costs (pdf)

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