MSPs have voted to create a new consumer body Consumer Scotland.
The Scottish Parliament passed the Consumer Scotland Bill at stage three yesterday, with 67 MSPs voting in favour and no votes against.
Scotland’s national consumer advice service, consumeradvice.scot, said the move will deliver a positive change to the Scottish consumer landscape.
The Glasgow-based charity Advice Direct Scotland operates the consumeradvice.scot service, which was launched in April 2019 with financial support from the Scottish Government following the devolution of consumer powers.
It will continue to provide free, impartial and practical advice directly to consumers in Scotland on issues such as travel, refund rights and avoiding scams.
Separately, the forthcoming Consumer Scotland body will be a ‘consumer champion’ with powers to represent the views of consumers; collect information; organise research and carry out investigations.
Andrew Bartlett, chief executive of consumeradvice.scot, said: “The creation of Consumer Scotland is an opportunity to establish a consumer champion for Scots.
“There will be a coordinated approach to collating information which our advisors receive directly from Scots consumers, so that future investigations by Consumer Scotland will offer a clear, objective picture of the consumer landscape.”
