Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED: That Councillor Daniel Kennelly (London Borough of Brent) be elected as Chair for the meeting.

None received.

Members are invited to declare at this stage of the meeting, any relevant personal or disclosable pecuniary interests in the items on this agenda.

No declarations of interest were made at the meeting.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday 9 March 2023.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 9 March 2023 be approved and signed as a correct record.

None.

No requests for deputations had been submitted for the meeting.

To receive, in accordance with the requirements of the Consortium Agreement, the Trading Standards Annual Report for the year 2022/2023.

The Board received a report, presented by Anu Prashar (Senior Regulatory Service Manager, Brent Council) detailing the Trading Standards Annual Report for 2022 – 23 which had been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Consortium Agreement and detailed the work of the Trading Standards Service.

In considering the report the Joint Advisory Board noted:

·            That the Trading Standards Service operated on a joint consortium basis between the London Borough of Brent and the London Borough of Harrow, with Brent being the host authority.

·            The Service was responsible for delivering each local authority’s statutory duties relating to the legislation enforced by a Weights and Measures Authority including responsibility for the enforcement of all related legal powers and duties.

·            In seeking to deliver these responsibilities the Service had been designed to promote and maintain a fair and equitable trading environment for consumers and businesses alike, creating a level and equal marketplace in which consumers, business and local economic growth would be supported. Duties extended to all business types including those who traded online, local high streets, commercial business parks, trading estates, those who traded from home and also door to door.

·            The continued partnership between the Service and Citizen’s Advice Consumer Service in acting as the first point of contact for enquiries from anyone within Brent or Harrow requiring consumer advice.  Given it was not possible for the Service to investigate every consumer complaint, a prioritisation process had been established to ensure the most serious complaints or those relating to a business generating multiple issues were focussed upon in order to enable resources were applied proportionately and in those cases where they were needed most of would have the maximum impact.  During 2022 – 23 the Servicereceived 4,872 service requests which as well as the Citizen’s Advice Consumer Service included the Ports Team, Police, businesses, consumers and other Trading Standards agencies.  Having been prioritised this resulted in 704 service requests having been analysed for investigation by Brent and 543 within Harrow.

·            Examples of specific activity undertaken by the Service provided within the Annual Report included:

Ø   The Service being actively involved in a London wide project to promote consumer and product safety involving illegal cosmetics and skin lightening creams and to provide educational content on the dangers of prohibited substances being used in these products.

Ø   Marketplace surveillance activity focussed around the increased availability of unsafe and non-compliant products linked to the cost-of-living crisis which had led to over 1,500 listings (including a range of unsafe electrical goods being marketed as energy efficient) being removed from auction and internet sites.

Ø   Over 120 weighing machines in local high streets being inspected to ensure scales were accurate and consumers were getting what they paid for.   Whilst the majority of the scales tested were compliant, four scales in Brent were immediately taken out of service with one in Harrow and work continuing to ensure businesses ensured their scales were correctly calibrated.

Ø   Visits being undertaken in vape hotspot areas across Brent  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To receive a report updating the Joint Advisory Board on work that has been carried out by the Illegal Money Lending Team (ILMT) within the boroughs of Brent and Harrow and advice on future plans.

Samuel Abdullahi, (Harrow Trading Standards Team Leader, Brent Council) presented a report on the work being carried out by Brent and Harrow Trading Standards in partnership with the National Illegal Money Lending Team (ILMT) and advising on future plans.

In considering the report the Joint Board noted:

•         The function of the Illegal Money Lending Team (ILMT) in relation to enforcement against illegal money lenders and in seeking to police the unregulated market and protect and support victims of illegal money lenders working with all local authorities in England.

•         In view of additional pressures arising from the cost-of-living crisis the work being undertaken through the ILMT was increasingly being targeted around combatting the associated growth in illegal lending by focusing on prevention, awareness and enforcement activities.  Examples of the work being undertaken across Brent and Harrow were detailed in section 3 of the report with the Board advised that the Service was committed to continue working with IMLT to ensure that victims that had engaged with loan sharks were able to get support and loan sharks were reported, investigated and prosecuted.

•         In addition, the Board was advised of work planned to provide training and workshops to staff across Brent and Harrow to enable them to identify victims and direct them to appropriate support.

The following issues were then raised by Members of the Board in response to the update provided:

•         Whilst commending officers for the work undertaken to date, Members were keen to ensure that the support available to individuals or households experiencing difficulties as a result of the growth in illegal lending was fully signposted.  This included support available through organisations such as Citizens Advice, Credit and Renters Unions as well as the ILMT.  In response the Board was advised of the work being undertaken with the ILMT and Financial Inclusion Officer to ensure awareness was raised and support was appropriately signposted, which had included loan shark awareness workshops and events held across Brent and Harrow.

•         Referring to the growth in problems being experienced by victims of illegal money lenders the Board was keen to support the work being undertaken with ILMT to train a wider range of staff across both Councils in being able to identify victims and direct them towards accessing appropriate support.

•         Concerns relating to the use of Individual Voluntary Agreements (IVA) as a means of restructuring debts were also highlighted by the Board, given the increase in advertising of these type of arrangements especially targeted at victims or households who were already financially vulnerable.  In response the Board was advised that the ability to take action in respect of companies offering these types of arrangements would depend on whether or not the products being offered were regulated and companies registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).  The main focus of the work being undertaken through the ILMT remained on unlicensed money lenders with concerns relating to potentially unethical practices of licensed providers needing to be raised with the FCA as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

This report updates the Joint Advisory Board on work carried out by the Financial Investigation Team since its establishment in 2012 and on the future implications and concerns of Proceeds of Crime work.

The Board received a report, presented by Anu Prashar (Senior Regulatory Service Manager, Brent Council) providing an update on work carried out by the Financial Investigation Team and on the future implications and concerns of Proceeds of Crime work.

In considering the report the Joint Board noted:

·            The background to establishment of a dedicated Financial Investigation Team by Brent and Harrow Trading Standards designed to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the Proceeds of Crime Act in terms of ensuring criminals were not able to financially benefit from their activity and that confiscated proceeds of crime could be used towards the cost of carrying out other enforcement and investigations.

·            The examples provided (as detailed within Appendix 1 of the report) of the success achieved by the Team since its establishment in terms of the number of referrals and resulting confiscation orders secured as a result of investigations under the Proceeds of Crime Act.  Since 2017 the team had secured a total of 60 confiscation orders with a total value of £8,030,845 and a total of £2,679,924 received as a result under the Home Office incentivisation scheme.  The full breakdown of funding which had been secured distributed across each authority had been detailed in section 3.7 of the report with it noted that following a reduction in contribution towards the Service by Harrow in 2020 the work of the two fully trained Accredited Financial Investigators (AFIs) was now funded and mainly targeted towards Brent.

The following issues were then raised by Members of the Board in response to the update provided:

·            In terms of future opportunities, members noted the benefits that could be achieved through use of AFIs to maximise the resources available for reinvestment in enforcement and investigation activity and as such indicated a willingness to consider re-examining the business case for increasing the contribution and investment by Harrow.  It was, however, recognised that any increase in capacity within the team would need to be matched by the necessary growth in workload potentially involving activity across a wider range of services.

As no further issues were raised the Joint Board thanked officers for their efforts and RESOLVED to endorse and note the update provided in relation to the work of the Financial Investigation Team and proceeds of crime activity.

Members are asked to note the dates of future meetings agreed for the remainder of the 2023-24 Municipal Year, as follows:

·             Wednesday 1 November 2023 at 6pm to be hosted (online) by the London Borough of Harrow

·             Wednesday 20 March 2024 at 6pm to be hosted (online) by the London Borough of Brent

NOTED the dates of future meetings agreed for the 2023-24 Municipal Year, as follows:

·        Wednesday 1 November 2023 at 6pm to be hosted (online) by the London Borough of Harrow

·        Wednesday 20 March 2024 at 6pm to be hosted (online) by the London Borough of Brent

Notice of items to be raised under this heading must be given in writing to the Head of Executive and Member Services (London Borough of Brent) or her representative before the meeting in accordance with the constitutions of both councils.

There were no matters or urgent business.