Post by Colin Henderson on Apr 13, 2012 12:50:46 GMT
Some law centres share in the F2F pot, though it's not clear how that will be continued in 2013. A variety of nfp agencies run non-LSC debt advice via other funding eg local authority contracts.
As far as consumer is concerned, there hasn't been any significant LSC funding for this for years. CitA have of course been rewarded for their cosy relationship with the government by being given everything that the OFT and Consumer Focus once did, see latest announcement here: www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/apr/11/citizens-advice-greater-consumer-protection-role (I imagine they are [auto mod]-a-hoop about this, as it gives them serious long-term funding wholly separate from being tied to a federation of financially-threatened local charities, who are now more or less dispensible).
And as a long-time friend of ilegal lordgreenform, I'm sure you will remember that Patrick and others used to pay for ilegal to be ad-free until it got too expensive due to the number of page views we get. So now we endure rather unsavoury ads via proboards, and yes Wonga is one of them. But if it offends you feel free to buy some credits. The process is described here: ilegal.org.uk/index.cgi?board=whatisthisforum&action=display&thread=70
Post by Richard Wilkinson on Apr 18, 2012 6:28:05 GMT
Hi Lordgreenform
Off at a tangent, but related, a podcast I take from Leo Laporte TwiT, The Tech Guy) recited a story of a church who were streaming their sermons live via Ustream or youtube were interjected with ads for ladies mud wrestling, so maybe we should be thankful that Wonga is the worst we have seen so far!
Post by Colin Henderson on Apr 20, 2012 8:11:05 GMT
Rich - you know Wonga is far more harmful than mud-wrestling!
Back on topic, it's worth noting that CitA's takeover of all things consumer is not happening without pain. Seems there is a TUPE transfer of most Consumer Focus staff, but NOT of all the subcontracted staff operating the Consumer Direct phonelines regionally, some of whom have been made redundant.
I've found two reports on this, the first from the South West, the other from Yorkshire: "Thirty-five jobs are under consultation following the closure of the Cornwall office of advice service Consumer Direct. The Office of Fair Trading, which has overseen the service's delivery across the UK, is winding down Consumer Direct ahead of its complete closure at the end of this month.
In the South West, the service was delivered on the OFT's behalf by SWERCOTS, which employed 38 people at its head of operations in Camborne. From April, an alternative consumer service will be offered by Citizens Advice, which will be delivered by business service provider Agilisys. In December, the OFT gave SWERCOTS three months notice that its contract would be terminated. Last week, those staff who did not find alternative work, were transferred under TUPE to Agilisys, which has a regional base at Western-super-Mare.
A source told the Western Morning News that three former SWERCOTS employees would take on new roles with Agilisys, while the others are negotiating redundancy. An Agilysis spokesman said it had retained "a number" from the Consumer Direct South West operation, but could not discuss specific figures, with the TUPE process still underway. She said: "We're working closely with these employees to identify any possible ways of avoiding redundancy."
SWERCOTS provided a telephone-based service to customers from across the region. Its staff handled around 200,000 calls a year and 12,000 emails from the public. It was established as a private company by guarantee in 2004, from a partnership formed between 15 local authority trading standard services across the South West. SWERCOTS had been "actively seeking" other, non-government contracts when news that Consumer Direct was to close came about. However, Cornwall Council cabinet member and SWERCOTS vice chairman Lance Kennedy said it had been unable to secure new business when its contract was terminated by the OFT, forcing it to enter liquidation."
"West Yorkshire Trading Standards Service look set to be making over 40 redundancies following the loss of the annual contract to provide Yorkshire consumers with advice and suggestions. The site affected is at Nepshaw Lane in Morley from where the Consumer Direct Yorkshire and Humber call centre was operated. Under the new contract, this will move away from the area resulting in the expected job losses. "
