Jersey Consumer Council: Annual Report 2012.

STATES OF JERSEY

JERSEY CONSUMER COUNCIL: ANNUAL REPORT 2012

Presented to the States on 28th June 2013 by the Minister for Economic Development

STATES GREFFE

2013   Price code: C  R.73 (re-issue)

 _______________________________________________________________ Re-issue Note

This Report is re-issued because the original version sent to the States Greffe inadvertently omitted the profit and loss account at the end of the document. This has now been included in this re-issued version.

Annual Report 2012

Liberation Place St. Helier

JE 1 1BB

Making the consumer voice heard and making it count

Contents

Membership and Meetings  3 Chairman's Statement  4 Main Issues 2012  5 Communication with Consumers  8 Financial Report  9

1. Memberships & Meetings

The Jersey Consumer Council held 7 meetings in 2012. The membership of the Jersey Consumer Council is:

• Advocate Rose Colley – Chairman
• Mr John Stephens –Representative of the Citizens Advice Bureau
• Advocate Jean-Marie Renouf – Representative of the Law Society
• Mr Ian Barnes – Representative of the Jersey Hospitality Association
• Mr Ray Shead – Representative of the Jersey Chamber of Commerce
• Representative of Unite (formerly Transport General Workers Union) did not attend or participate in the Consumer Council
• Members of the Public:

• Mr Brian Penaluna
• Mr Peter Drew
• Mrs Joan Cadoret
• Dr. Sriskantharajah Arun

2. Chairman's Statement

My term of office as Chair of the Jersey Consumer Council (JCC) commenced in February 2012. I hope that the objectives that were set for 2012 have been met and in some instances exceeded.

One of my first roles was to meet with a large number of the leaders of a number of key businesses in the Island as well as a number of key politicians. I considered that this was important as over the years many felt that the JCC had lost touch with business. I have also forged positive links with the Chamber of Commerce and CICRA. I hope to continue these throughout my Chairmanship.

Throughout 2012 a number of key people have been asked to speak at the Council meetings. This new initiative  has  worked  extremely  well  and  has  allowed  the  Council  to  both  learn  from  and  question  the speakers.

A decision was also made to change the frequency and format of the newsletter to hopefully make it more up to date and relevant to the consumer.

During 2012 I gave numerous media interviews and I believe that the JCC is now seen as the first voice that is heard on a whole variety of consumer issues.

For the first time the JCC decided to survey all Islanders. The chosen topic was Primary Health Care. Both members of the medical profession and members of the public got involved in debating the issues at a series of public meetings during the latter part of 2012. The Ministers of Health and Social Security were also involved in the consultation. The survey was answered by a huge number of Islanders and hopefully the results will continue to influence health policy in the Island,

In May, I travelled to Northern Ireland in order to forge links with the NI Consumer Council. I found that not only is this body extremely influential but they were willing to share both their literature and experiences with us. I would like to thank them for all the help that they have given the JCC to date. It is a relationship that I hope will continue.

Finally I would like to thank all the member of the Council who have given so much of their time and experience to the JCC over the past 12 months. I would also like to give particular thanks to Trevor Le Roux and

Mike King for their continued advice and support. Most of all thanks to the JCC officer, Anne King, none of our achievements of the past year would have been possible without her.

Advocate Rose Colley

3. Council Main 2012 Issues

During 2012 the Council was involved in a variety of issues and debates:

A key focus of Council's activities this year has been those associated with Primary Health; the consultation deadlines  in  relation  to  the  paper  Caring  for  each  other,  Caring  for  ourselves'  has  driven  the  design, distribution, and data analysis of the Primary Health Care questionnaire.

The Council distributed 42,000 questionnaires, 40,000 to all residential addresses additional copies were placed in doctors and dentist surgeries, chemists, retirement and care homes, hospitals, parish halls and sports centre's.

We have received 6,588 replies. We were delighted that the initial basic analysis was submitted by Rachel Williams, Director of System Redesign and Delivery, Health and Social Services as part of the Report and Proposition, which was debated in October. :

"Current funding arrangements do not always encourage people to seek the right help in the right place from the right health and social care professional. The current co-payment for GP services is understood to contribute to high Emergency Department attendances. It was the most frequent topic in the White Paper consultation, and the Jersey Consumer Council has recently undertaken a separate survey of Islanders. As at 10 September 2012 Jersey Consumer Council had analysed 4,026 questionnaires. Whilst the study was not statistically representative of the entire population because respondents self-selected, an interesting set of themes emerged.

The verdict has generated a shopping list which starts with:

• 62% of respondents feel that they would benefit from better advice and information on non urgent health problems

• People need to know how much their care is likely to cost; only a 1/4 of respondents report having transparency regarding GP and Dentist pricelists

• Patients need to understand how they communicate dissatisfaction with any treatment they receive; 2/3rds of the respondents would not tell the GP or Dentist immediately; 45% of respondents do not know if there is a formal complaints procedure.

The Primary Health Care Working Group gathered significant momentum in 2012; members include Primary Health Care suppliers; GP's, dentists, opticians, pharmacists, complementary therapist, agencies, members of the public and nurses.

The meetings have benefited from key guest speakers:

• Francis Le Gresley, Minister for Social Security

• Susie Pinel, Assistant Minister for Social Security

• Richard Bell, Chief Officer Social Security

• Sue Duhamel, Policy and Strategy Director Social Security

• Deputy Anne Pryke, Minister for Health and Social Services

• Julie Garbutt, Chief Executive Officer of Health

• Rachel Williams, Director of System Redesign and Delivery, Health and Social Services

• Nick Lyons, Primary Care Medical Director

Follow up informative articles were written by Social Security and the Council to say thank you to respondents and to give a better overview of some of the areas of uncertainty has reported in our survey results and the comments volunteered. Articles helped islanders to understand how they may be eligible for help to meet the costs of a trip to the dentist and what information to take with you when you visit Social Security to save repeat trips.

The full report is available on the Council's website www.jerseyconsumercouncil.org.je .The report proposals are due to be discussed at a meeting with the Minister and other key decision makers shortly.

The Council has presented a joint paper, with Citizens Advice and Age Concern, to the CICRA regarding Fibre Telephone Services and the Vulnerable with particular reference to battery back up provision. CICRA have committed to debating the issue with Jersey Telecom. JT have responded and are hosting a joint meeting to follow up on the points raised.

The Council liaise with CICRA, Trading Standards and CAB on a regular basis to ensure that we have a joint approach to progressing issues which have an impact on Jersey consumers.

4. Communication with Consumers & the Media

Newsletter

The Newsletter is the main tool for connecting with the public and is the focus for interaction with them. During 2012 the newsletter format and style was changed: the Council published 5 four page newsletters which focussed on local topical issues.

The Council now receives copy from a range of bodies, for example CICRA, CAB, Social Security, the new bus operator, TTS and members. It is now commonplace for the Council to receive too much copy from contributors as their confidence in our credibility continues to grow.

The Council aims to spark and generate areas of debate via the newsletter as well as to provide user friendly information to help consumers to make informed decisions.

The Council website has been re branded and the content updated. We now headline articles in the newsletter and present the bulk of the detail on the website so we highlight a greater variety of topical issues in each newsletter edition.

It is our aim to engage with greater range of audiences and thus we employ the services of specialist writing consultants to bring to life certain topics to appeal to different age groups and market sectors.

Media

The Chairman regularly gives interviews to BBC Radio Jersey & Spotlight TV, Channel Television, the Jersey Evening Post & Commercial Radio station 103 on a variety of consumer issues generated from within or from outside of the Island.

General Contact

Consumers contact the Council through our website and email us directly from newsletter articles or word of mouth references. Although the Council were initially cautious about being located within Liberation Place it does provide a welcoming port of call for any visitor to the Council.

5. Financial Report

The Council generated expenses of £ 93,160.41 (78,299.21 plus accruals £14,861.20) during 2012. These are detailed in the attached profit & loss report.

This was met by a grant from Economic Development Department of £103.695.00 received in two parts:

1. 2nd April 2012  £51,847.50
2. 20th August 2012  £51,847.50

The 2012 grant was enhanced by £6,000 from £97,695 to meet the costs of the website redesign and a purchase of a laptop. Please refer to the attached quick books profit and loss account; the accruals to be added to 2012 expenditure as stated in the profit and loss are detailed below.

Total Annual Expenditure £93,512.69

It should also be noted that the Council received £24.15 in Bank Interest during 2012. The financial matters of the Council are being formally audited by Grant Thornton.

Quick books 2012 profit and loss account

Ordinary Income/Expense

  Income

   Bank interest received  24.15   Grant received  103,695.00   Total Income  103,719.15

  Expense

   Bank Service Charges  0.00   Dues and Subscriptions  239.00    Focus Group  11,831.82    Honorarium  10,000.00    Insurance  350.00    Issued Publications

    Design  1,186.00    Distribution  10,200.00    Newsletter  22.50    Printing costs  6,914.24    Total Issued Publications  18,322.74

   Licenses and Permits  1,250.00    Meeting costs

    Meals  75.00    Meeting provisions  301.98    Taxis  208.00    Travel  147.76    Meeting costs - Other  1,015.19    Total Meeting costs  1,747.93

   Miscellaneous  699.99    Office expenses

    Stationery  437.20    Total Office expenses  437.20

   Payroll Expenses

    ITIS  2,077.27    Social security  2,792.77    Staff wages  20,457.28    Total Payroll Expenses  25,327.32

    Price watch

    Petrol Price watch  510.00     Price Watch ad-hoc  370.00    Stores price comparison  2,010.00    Total Price watch  2,890.00

   Professional Fees

    Accounting services.  1,000.00    Professional Fees - Other  2,092.50    Total Professional Fees  3,092.50

   Software Expense  464.39    Telephone

    Land line  481.39    Total Telephone  481.39

  Total Expense  77,134.28

Total Accruals £16,378.41

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