AS gas and electricity prices keep on climbing, anti-poverty groups fear a new system to protect consumers will be less effective than the one that exists already.

The new Scottish Consumer Council (SCC), which will launch on October 1 and will sit under the new National Consumer Council (NCC), amalgamates the Scottish Consumer Council with power and postal watchdogs Energywatch and Postwatch.

With Energywatch particularly renowned for campaigning against bad consumer treatment - it dealt with with 20,000 complaints in Scotland alone last year - critics say there will be no such equivalent in the new body.

Policymakers also stand accused of cost-cutting, with the 350 staff from the original organisations reduced to about 175 in the new NCC.

However, with Scottish Gas owner Centrica last week announcing plans to raise energy prices for a second time this year, and rival firms tipped to follow, this is seen as especially worrying. Energy-watch says Scottish Gas has the worst customer service record in Scotland.

Elizabeth Gore, of Energy Action Scotland (EAS), said: "We are particularly concerned about the loss of the advocacy role Energywatch provides. The intention is that the power companies are going to beef up their own complaint handling, but there are a lot of complex cases, especially with vulnerable people, who don't have the confidence to stand up for themselves."

Irene Graham, head of the poverty programme for Save the Children in Scotland, said: "The reality is that those who are paying the most for their energy bills because they don't pay by direct debit are the least likely to be making strong complaints to the energy companies."

Under the new system, the result of the forthcoming Estate Agents and Consumer Redress Act, consumers' first port of call is the company in question. If this fails, they can go to an ombudsman, which already exists for energy cases but is being created for postal cases.

The only exception will be for customers deemed "vulnerable" or in danger of disconnection, who will be handled by a SCC unit in Glasgow. This 20-strong team is being transferred from the existing Energywatch office in the city and will cover all of the UK.

SCC chairman Douglas Sinclair, said: "Energywatch has done a superb job, but the key issue is to make sure the companies improve their complaints procedures ... or customers will switch."

Allan Asher, Energywatch chief executive, said: "Energy companies will need to quickly improve their standards of customer service and complaint handling."