Committee for Consumers in Vulnerable Circumstances
Minutes of meeting, Meeting 9, 11 September 2025, 10.00am – St Vincent Plaza, Glasgow
Attendees
Angela Morgan, Chair (Board, Consumer Scotland)
Douglas White (Director of Policy and Advocacy, Consumer Scotland)
Kendal Morris (SP Energy Networks)
Lucy Mulvagh (the ALLIANCE)
John McKendrick (Glasgow Caledonian University) – joined remotely
Tracey Reilly (Head of Consumer Markets, Consumer Scotland) – joined remotely
Gail Walker (Head of Water, Consumer Scotland)
Camilla Barnett (Analysis Manager, Consumer Scotland) – joined remotely
David Jackson (Policy and Advocacy Officer, Consumer Scotland)
Catriona Kirk (Operations Team, Consumer Scotland – Minutes)
Apologies
Aaliya Seyal (Chief Executive Officer, Legal Services Agency)
Twimukye Macline Mushaka (Representing herself)
Artemis Pana (Scottish Rural Action)
Jane Williams (Head of Research, Consumer Scotland)
Kirsten Urquhart (Young Scot)
Karen Nailen (Chief Executive, West Lothian Citizens Advice Bureau)
Agenda Item 1: Arrival
Agenda Item 2: Welcome and Introductions
1. The Chair welcomed members to the ninth meeting of the Advisory Committee on Consumers in Vulnerable Circumstances. Lucy Mulvagh was formally welcomed to the Committee and members introduced themselves for Lucy’s benefit.
2. Apologies were noted and members unable to attend had been invited to provide any feedback on papers via email.
3. The minutes of the previous Committee meeting held on 12th of June 2025 were approved.
Agenda Item 3: Updates Log and Roundup
4. David Jackson provided an overview of updates relevant to previous Committee discussions since the last meeting held on the 12th of June 2025.
5. David noted that the updates and roundup have been combined into one agenda item (and paper). The paper was circulated to members for information prior to the meeting.
6. Substantive items were reviewed as below:
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- Ongoing work with Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP): Consumer Scotland (CS) continue to be involved in advocacy work regarding VOIP ahead of the scheduled switch-off in 2027, focussing on the effects this may have on consumers in vulnerable circumstances.
- Research on disabled people in rural areas: members were thanked for their helpful feedback at the previous meeting. Following this, amendments have been made and CS aim to publish the final report in the near future. An action was taken to circulate this to members once available on our website.
- Work on postal services Universal Service Obligation: members were thanked for their previous feedback, specifically on the importance of delivery timescales of certain mail including legal and medical correspondence. Ofcom have published their consultation outcome, and CS will continue our advocacy work in this area.
- Heat Networks: CS’ statutory role in Heat Networks launched on the 1st of April 2025. The team’s current focus is raising awareness of advice services for heat networks consumers in Scotland.
- Some items have been moved to closed on the updates log, including Consumer Duty and Regulation of Legal Services. Though it was noted that work in these areas is ongoing within CS and any substantial updates will be taken to the Committee.
7. Broader roundup key highlights included:
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- Electric Vehicle Infrastructure: working with Transport Scotland to develop a plan and structure for future stakeholder forums on the future of EV ownership and infrastructure.
- Public Transport Advocacy: undertaking analysis of existing data to better understand how public transport can be developed and improved for more consumers who could utilise it. Additionally, an extensive literature review on safety and accessibility on public transport is underway.
- Consumer Markets: conducting research into public and private rented sector housing with work to be published soon. CS are also scoping work around consumer experiences across a number of different financial services such as insurance and affordable credit.
- Energy Markets: engaged with Ofgem on the Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) shut off to ensure there is extra support for those consumers in vulnerable circumstances. An action was taken to circulate the link to CS correspondence with Ofgem.
- Postal Services: the team are preparing to start a research project on how effectively postal services are working for island communities (including small businesses).
- Strategic Water Investment: recent findings from CS’ affordability of water services work found that water poverty is likely to increase in Scotland if no further financial support is offered to low-income consumers. The Chair noted that CS’ voice is influential in ensuring consumers are considered in strategic discussions.
Agenda Item 4: Water Debt and Potential Research
8. Gail Walker, Head of Water Policy and Advocacy at Consumer Scotland, introduced herself to the Committee. Gail joined the meeting to deliver a presentation on water and sewerage debt in Scotland.
9. Key points from the presentation included:
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- The focus on water and sewerage debt has been a point of interest in Scotland for a long time.
- An overview of the billing system, reductions and exemptions for charges and the roles and responsibilities within the water sector in Scotland were outlined.
- Impact on debt: 2015 research showed that 1 in 5 Scottish consumers were in debt for water and sewerage. Potential contributing factors include lack of billing clarity, lack of clear ownership for communications, benefit recipients often unaware of ongoing liability to pay, debt accumulating over time unnoticed, and unaffordable bills and aggressive debt recovery measures
- The presentation also covered areas of improvement for the current systems, a focus of work currently for the Water Team at CS.
10. The Chair thanked Gail for her overview and members noted their interest in this subject. It was agreed that Gail would attend a future meeting to update members on this topic.
Agenda Item 5: Housing Research and Advocacy Update
11. Tracey Reilly and Camilla Barnett led on the Housing Research and Advocacy Update.
12. Tracey provided a summary of the work carried out for the Housing Research:
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- CS research partner Thinks were commissioned to carry out research to better understand how well the market is working for private tenants in Scotland who have landlord disputes.
- Methodology included expert stakeholder interviews and advisory focus groups. Forty tenants were interviewed, which included a mixture of individuals at different stages of redress processes.
- Key findings noted that uncertainty and low expectations of tenancy rights acted as barrier for individuals to seek redress. Additional, tenants generally do not seek advice unless there is an element of urgency.
13. CS conclusions and recommendations included:
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- Access to information – tenants and landlords need access to clear, relevant, practical information to enable them to check issues and understand their rights.
- Access to advice – many tenants aren’t aware of advice services or assume these do not provide housing advice or advice on their issue.
- Ongoing support – crucial to help tenants start and finish formal redress processes.
- Improving redress pathways – tenants generally feel positive about the outcomes but there are barriers to access.
14. Key findings relevant to the Committee’s work included:
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- New renters are least likely to be aware of tenancy rights.
- Tenants on low incomes can have significant costs trying to self-manage issues.
- Tenants on low incomes, with long term health conditions, single householders and families with children felt they had fewer options to move.
15. The Committee were invited to provide feedback or ask any questions. An overview of the discussion is as below:
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- Lucy noted that the findings align with the Alliance’s knowledge of this topic.
- There must be support for both landlords and tenants.
- The key focus should be on preventative measures to ensure information and properties are fit for purpose at the beginning of a tenancy.
- Digital exclusion should also be a key consideration within this work.
16. The Chair thanked Tracey and Camilla for attending.
Agenda Item 6: Membership Feedback
17. The Chair led on the Committee Chair Review paper agenda item. The review paper aimed to test the activity of the committee against its remit, help track its impact and seek ideas for development and improvement.
18. Following review of the paper by members, this session was to:
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- Ensure members understood the purpose of the review
- Ensure any further feedback was noted to include in the paper
19. The Chair noted that there will be a presentation to CS Board on the 23rd of September 2025 outlining the progress of the Committee since it was set up two years ago.
20. Key strengths of the Committee included:
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- confidence that focus on consumers in vulnerable circumstances is embedded in the wider CS remit and responsibility
- the range of perspectives, experience and expertise was enriching
- relationships have been built through contact outwith committee meetings
21. Suggestions for development included:
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- clarification on how the Committee feeds into CS Board
- clarification on how areas for activity are chosen and prioritised
- more opportunities akin to the meeting with Ofgem last year
22. The next steps include assessing any further feedback and a brief final report will be shared with the committee, including an action plan for the development points. There is no formal review scheduled, but it was agreed that every two years would be a reasonable timeframe for a review.
23. Following the review, it was suggested that CS may consider wider publication on how the Committee helps to influence CS work. An action was taken to consider how this may be delivered.
24. Members noted it would be useful to understand what the Board need from Committee members, and whether they feel that is currently being achieved.
Agenda Item 7: Flash Updates
25. Members were invited to share any areas of work they are aware of, or involved in, that would be of interest to the group.
Agenda Item 9: AOB/Next Steps
26. The Chair noted there were some individual actions including follow-up discussions, presentation slides and publications to be shared.
27. David Jackson raised that the next meeting was to be held in November. This has been moved from December to increase attendance, and the meeting cycle will change to this effect going forward.
28. With no other business, the meeting was closed.
Confirmed Dates for Upcoming Meetings
19th November 2025 – 10.00 – 13.00
February 2026 date tbc