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The Consumer Council today welcomed the Government’s review of Christmas savings schemes but acknowledges that there is much work still to be done. Today’s news is a positive and swift development for the 3,000 local people who lost more than £1.2 million when Farepak collapsed in October 2006.

The Consumer Council today welcomed the announcement that water charges are to be deferred and considered by a local devolved Assembly and that further discussions on the financial package are to take place with the Chancellor.

There was more good news for households here as Phoenix Natural Gas announced that gas prices would fall by 14.6 per cent from 31 March. This is the third piece of good news on the energy front following similar announcements from Northern Ireland Electricity and firmus energy.

The Consumer Council today welcomed firmus energy’s announcement that it will cap prices for another year until January 2009.

There was some good news for passengers today as Translink announced that although some Ulsterbus and Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) fares will change, most will stay the same in 2007. At a time of growing concern over the environmental impact of carbon emmisions from our cars, this is timely news.

There is some good news for householders today as Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) announces that electricity prices will drop by three per cent or £11 off the average annual bill from April 2007. However, the Consumer Council said that while the decrease is welcome, consumers could have been looking at a seven per cent fall if they did not have to pick up the multi-million pound tab for cleaning up Kilroot Power Station.

The Consumer Council today welcomed improvements in Ulsterbus and Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) performance, but cautioned that challenges still exist for Metro. Independent research released today shows that while Ulsterbus and NIR are getting more passengers from A to B on time, there are still too many Metro passengers arriving late and there is passenger dissatisfaction with the cleanliness of the new Metro buses.

A team of teenagers from Strathearn School are the winners of this year’s Young Consumers Competition (YCC), held in Lisburn on Friday 2 March.

Following the submission of a super-complaint by the Consumer Council and Which?, the Competition Commission today published proposals to sort out the anti-competitive and anti-consumer personal current account market here. For the first time, the Competition Commission has put measures in place to encourage customers to switch banks and take control of their banking to get the best deal possible.