THE INSTITUTE OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS

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Our annual seminar and AGMs

 

Our regular venue

 

MIC Conference Centre, 81-103 Euston Street, London NW1, just 3 minutes walk from Euston Station, 10 minutes from Kings Cross / St Pancras. Click the centre's name for further details.

 

Annual Seminars

 

These prestigious events are held in the Autumn each year in London; they address the national policy agenda and are open to both members and non-members.  Past themes have covered social exclusion, e-commerce, and better quality advice.  

 

The 2007 Conference was held at MIC on 29th November under the title "EQUALITY STREET". It included the following items:

  •  The introductory speech was by Brian Lewin, Chair of the Trading Standards Institute who explained why consumer advisers were so vital to the TS service, and how local authorities would be wrong to dispense with their services; click here for a copy of his presentation slides.

  • Next we heard from Christine Cryne and Sue Cook from OFT.
    Chris talked about progress on Consumer Direct, and how it would be taking on more work with the rationalisation of other advice services, and the setting up of the new National Consumer Council. Se talked about the "Save Xmas" campaign which she was running, as a follow-up to the Farepak disaster. click here for Chris's presentation, and here for Sue's.

  • We then explored the difficulties that particular groups (disabled, immigrants, young and elderly people) experienced in consumer matters, especially in trying to access our services:

    •   Samantha Mauger, from Age Concern London described how elderly people should not be thought of as automatically vulnerable; people could become vulnerable at any age - vulnerability was also dependent on the circumstances of the transaction. Click here for her presentation.

    • Dr Mandy Maddock, from Disability Croydon talked about her experiences and research into the needs of disabled people.

    • Gareth Thomas, a student from Plymouth University, described how and why students might not seek advice, and got badly treated by shops. Click here for his presentation.

    • Bozena Krahn, representing the Federation of Poles in Great Britain explained the difficulties faced by Eastern Europeans - their English might be poor, and the Government was cutting back on Level 1 literacy and numeracy courses. They also were poorly treated by landlords over property they might be renting, and could not get help from banks.

  • Lord Whitty, Chair of the National Consumer Council, opened the afternoon session, and told us the latest thinking in the development of the Consumer Voice proposals, and how the new National Consumer Council would operate.

  • Kim Lewis-Williams from Cornwall Trading Standards gave her personal view of how the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive might work, and the effect it would have on advice staff. Click here for her presentation.

  •  Finally, Steve Playle, who leads the South East Scambusters Unit, described the work they did and some of their recent successes. Click here for an edited copy of his presentation.

Please note that all the above presentations have been converted to pdf format. Some slides have been enlarged where they are not easily readable. If you have any problems with any other slides, please contact Bob Imrie.

 

Annual General Meetings

              

The Institute's AGM is also held in the Autumn at MIC in London, usually the day before the Conference, and includes a training session/workshop on topical issues relevant to consumer advice and free buffet lunch.

The 2007 AGM was held at MIC on 28th November, and the draft minutes are attached here.

 

After the formal business there was a free training event, where Wendy Moir, from BT, talked about their 'switched on' programme, the updating of the broadband network, and when it will happen locally. Click here for her presentation.

 

National Executive 2008

Post Holder Email address
Chair: Alan Miles chair"at" icanet.org.uk
Vice-Chair (Information): Philip Weston vicechair"at" icanet.org.uk
Secretary: Kathryn Carney secretary"at" icanet.org.uk
Membership Secretary: Jacqui King membership"at" icanet.org.uk
Executive Member for Europe Carole Bell europe "at" icanet.org.uk
Regional Officer London: Vacant  
Regional Officer South West: Jill Taylor southwest"at" icanet.org.uk
Regional Officer East Midlands: Judy Maher eastmidlands"at" icanet.org.uk
Regional Officer North West: Chris Chesham northwest"at" icanet.org.uk
Regional Officer Wales: Alan Miles wales"at" icanet.org.uk
Regional Officer Thames Valley Adrienne Larkin thamesvalley "at" icanet.org.uk
Regional Officer South East: David Bullen southeast"at" icanet.org.uk
Regional Officer North East: Alison Jones northeast "at" icanet.org.uk
Regional Officer East of England Judy Maher eastofengland "at" icanet.org.uk
Regional Officer West Midlands Sue Payne westmidlands"at" icanet.org.uk
Regional Officer Scotland Carol Brennan scotland"at" icanet.org.uk
Regional Officer Northern Ireland Hazel Scott northernireland "at" icanet.org.uk
Public Relations: Ann Kaye publicity "at" icanet.org.uk
Publications: Jacqui King publications"at" icanet.org.uk
Treasurer: Andy Mackintosh finance"at" icanet.org.uk
Training Graham Lambert & Del Hickingbottom training "at" icanet.org.uk

Officer without Portfolio:

Michelle Shambrook portfolio1 "at" icanet.org.uk

Officer without Portfolio:

Linda Cartwright portfolio2 "at" icanet.org.uk

 

There are also two other appointed officers - Marie-Helene Kutek who oversees the icanews email group, and Bob Imrie, who is ICA's webmaster.

                           

  Send mail to webster "at" icanet.org.uk with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2007 Institute of Consumer Affairs
Last modified: 03/12/2007