Role of the group

The Ministerial Taskforce on Consumers and Markets is a key element of a more proactive approach by Scottish Government to place consumers at the heart of Scottish policy-making.

This Taskforce was established to provide Scottish Ministers with strategic advice on priorities and actions relating to consumer and market issues in Scotland, promoting a culture of strong partnership, intelligence sharing and constructive challenge.

Keith Brown MSP, Cabinet Secretary for the Economy, Jobs and Fair Work will chair this Taskforce.

The Taskforce will:

• provide oversight on the development and delivering of consumer and competition policy that meets the needs of consumers and businesses in Scotland
• provide a forum to evaluate evidence; disseminate best practice; and develop new and innovative approaches to represent and tackle the most persistent and detrimental consumer issues
• prioritise current and emerging consumer and market issues based on agreed criteria
• agree on an annual basis a number of priority issues for action; identify the outcomes it will achieve and how these will be measured
• establish an appropriate mechanism to engage with relevant stakeholders and experts to develop and implement a programme of work around each priority issue
• oversee the progress of work on identified priorities while also ensuring any new or emerging issues are considered and prioritised as needed
• report on an annual basis on the outcome of its work and future identified priorities

Members

The first meeting of this group will take place on 8 February 2018.

Members

• Arianna Andreangeli
• Jo Armstrong
• Sonia Brown
• Liam Delaney
• Brendan Dick
• Phil Evans
• Peter Freeman
• Susan McPhee
• Shabnum Mustapha
• Fiona Richardson