Decision details

The replacement of the Buy With Confidence Scheme with an alternative approved contractor scheme. 

27.1     The Committee considered a report by the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport which provided an update on the provision of an alternative to the Buy with Confidence (BWC) approved trader scheme and work of the Trading Standards Service.

27.2     The Head of Communities introduced the report and outlined the main developments since the decision was taken in January 2015 to seek alternative ways of providing an approved trader scheme. The management of the BWC scheme will be transferred to Hampshire County Council who will maintain standards through background checks, peer reviews and the administration of the scheme.  ESCC has also partnered with a commercial provider, Check a Trade (CAT), whose quality standards will be monitored through the Primary Authority Agreement (PAP) with Kent County Council.

27.3     ESCC Trading standards will monitor both schemes via customer feedback and complaints. Having a Trading Standards approved trader scheme means that ESCC Trading Standards can say no to traders wishing to join the schemes and can suspend or remove membership if necessary.

Quality Standards for Approved Contractor schemes

27.4     Some Committee members had expressed concerns about the use of a commercial partner to provide an approved trader scheme. The Head of Communities outlined the checks and balances that had been put in place by the Primary Authority Agreement, which has driven up standards. For example all traders have to have standard terms and cancellation clauses in their contracts. Check a Trade provides open access to all records and Trading Standards can suspend membership if it has any concerns. There is an appeals process administered by CAT, and Trading Standards and CAT will work with traders to get them up to the required standard.

27.5     The Committee was satisfied that sufficient safeguards had been put in place to ensure the quality standards of the approved trader schemes are maintained.

27.6     The Committee discussed to following areas of Trading Standards work:

Capacity of the Trading Standards Team

27.7     The Committee noted that there had been a reduction in staff and questioned whether the team had sufficient staff and resources to deliver all the services (statutory and non-statutory), they are required to provide. It also asked how the prioritisation of work was being managed.

27.8     The Head of Communities responded that the reduction in staff included four posts linked to BWC scheme, so the impact on capacity was less that it appeared. More of the team’s work is intelligence led and there are other places, such as Citizens Advice, where consumers can get help and advice. The team takes a risk based approach to their work. They look at the level of consumer detriment that is apparent and target work accordingly.

27.9     The team will work with individuals and will offer one to one advice if the consumer is vulnerable. The team checks the national Trading Standards database for leads and holds fortnightly tasking meetings to agree priorities and investigation work.

Enforcement

27.10   The team would like to have more staff for enforcement work and do prosecute larger and more serious cases. Enforcement action is taken where appropriate and the team is using civil injunctions more frequently. The team has an accredited Financial Investigator, under the Proceeds of Crime Act, which allows them to pursue bigger offenders. There are a range of tools that they can use for enforcement:

• Written warnings
• Fixed penalty notices (FPN’s)
• Civil enforcement – injunctions to stop activities
• Criminal enforcement (although a large number of defendants elect to have cases heard in the Crown Court due to the reductions in legal aid)

Business Advice

27.11   The Trading Standards Team Manager explained that the training courses that had been delivered this year had been very successful and the team has been showing businesses where to find sources of guidance. The team are proposing to run more training courses which are self-financing. The intention is to advertise them more widely and tie the publicity in with national events. The training aspect of the team’s work is not a legal duty, but is becoming an essential way of getting compliance through education.

Project Work

27.12   The Committee noted the very successful illegal tobacco trading work, which was funded by some one-off funding from Public Health. The team’s work to protect the community from rogue traders has also been featured on the BBC2 Illegal Grafters programme. Although it is not always possible to sustain this type of work, the project benefits have been in the intelligence gained and how much more the team knows about the way in which illegal activity is conducted.

27.13   The Committee RESOLVED to:

(1) note the report; and

(2) thank the Trading Standards staff for all their work.