Agenda and minutes

To be appointed from the London Borough of Brent membership for this

meeting.

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

Apologies were received from Councillor Steve Crabb (London Borough of Brent) and Councillor Krishna Suresh (London Borough of Harrow).

Members are invited to declare at this stage of the meeting, any relevant

personal or disclosable pecuniary interests in the items on this agenda.

None.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on Wednesday 19 March 2025 as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 19 March 2025 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

None.

No requests for deputations had been submitted for the meeting.

This report presents the Annual Report (produced as a requirement under the Trading Standards Consortium Agreement) for consideration by the Joint Advisory Board which details the work undertaken by the Trading Standards service during 2024-25.

The Senior Regulatory Service Manager for Trading Services presented the Trading Standards Annual Report for the year 2024/2025 and added that it was a requirement of the Trading Standards Consortium Agreement that an Annual Report was presented to the Joint Advisory Board with details of the work undertaken during the financial year to which it related.

The Service sought to promote and maintain a fair and equitable trading environment for consumers and businesses alike, creating a level and equal marketplace in which consumers could spend in confidence, business could confidently trade and the local economy could grow.  There were over 250 pieces of legislation to abide by as well as given standards.

The Service continued to work in partnership with the Citizen’s Advice Consumer Service and accepted referrals for consideration, of cases involving criminal activity or ongoing consumer harm that affected Brent and Harrow residents.

Unfortunately, the Service could not investigate or deal with every request received, so each service request was assessed and scored to determine whether it would be investigated further.  This year 321 reports were investigated in Brent and 145 in Harrow.

The Service strived to contribute towards both Borough’s objectives of supporting business growth by delivering effective regulation for the benefit of legitimate businesses.  Officers responded to 112 separate requests for advice and information from local businesses (Brent 62 and Harrow 50).  This was an increase of 12% from the previous year. 

Officers conducted 236 compliance inspections (Brent 117, and Harrow 119) to verify that businesses were adhering to consumer protection laws, product safety standards and fair trading practices.

The Service continued to deliver support and advice to Primary Authority businesses and guided partners through complex safety matters, including product recalls and withdrawals from UK and EU markets.   Staff created a new partnership with Sabre Retail Fashion Limited trading as Mint Velvet, a national clothing retailer.  Brent delivered 57 hours and Harrow 20 hours of Primary Authority advice.

In March 2025, the Service wrote to 703 businesses (422 Brent and 281 Harrow) advising them of the single use vape ban coming into force as of 1 June 2025.

The Service continued to undertake a wide range of activities to protect Brent’ and Harrow’s residents and promote the well-being of its communities.  Compliance inspections, market surveillance and investigations had been carried out on an e-bikes modification business, cosmetic products, PPE and homeware products.

The team had a statutory duty to carry out market surveillance and enforcement activities concerning the storage and sale of fireworks and was responsible for ensuring that fireworks sold in Brent & Harrow were manufactured to the relevant standard and not sold to minors.  The Service issued 32 fireworks licences to 29 businesses in Harrow.

Working in partnership with the Metropolitan Police, the Football Association, brand protection teams and our Environmental Enforcement Officers, the team saw a huge improvement in compliance levels on event days, with a substantial decline in illegal street traders, making the events much more pleasurable for all who attended. 

The Service  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

This report provides Members with information regarding proposals to implement age verification checks and to seek control of the doorstep dropping of knives and bladed articles to greater protect young people from knife crime.

The Senior Regulatory Service Manager for Trading Services presented an overview of the report that provided Members with information regarding proposals to implement age verification checks and to seek control of the doorstep dropping of knives and bladed articles to greater protect young people from knife crime.

In terms of the process outlined members were advised that a stringent 2-step system would be mandated for all retailers selling knives online requiring customers to submit photo ID at point of sale and again on delivery.  In addition, delivery companies would only be able to deliver a bladed article to the same person who purchased it.

Under the proposed new measures, a person may need to submit a copy of a photo ID, such as a driving licence or passport, as well as proof of address, such as a utility bill before showing ID again when the package was delivered. This could also include a person submitting a current photo or video of themselves to an online retailer alongside their ID.  It would also be illegal to leave a package containing a bladed weapon on a doorstep when no one was available to receive it.

The raft of measures being referred to were known as ‘Ronan’s Law’, in tribute to Ronan Kanda, a 16-year-old who was killed in 2022 by a teenager carrying a 22-inch ‘ninja blade’ purchased online.

The new rules followed a spate of incidents involving knives, including the Southport attack in which the perpetrator used a knife purchased on Amazon to commit his attack.

The Crime and Policing Bill 2025, which was introduced in the House of Commons on the 25 February 2025 would increase the maximum prison sentence for selling weapons to under-18s from two months to up to two years.  That could apply either to an individual who had processed the sale or the Chief Executive of a company – giving online marketplaces an added incentive to take their responsibilities seriously.

The Government had previously announced that they would hold social media executives to account for knife crime related content which glorified and incited violence amongst young people.  Senior executives of social media companies would also face significant fines in the region of £10,000 for failing to swiftly remove knife crime related content from their platforms.

Comments were then sought on he update provided, with the following issues raised:

·            Complaints about knives to the service remained relatively low.

·            Members agreed that it was positive that there had been an increase in fines given and asked how to increase test purchases.  Anu Prashar replied that each complaint was assessed individually.  The Service ensured to sign the company up with the Responsible Trader Scheme and sometimes a visit from the Service was needed.

With no further comments raised the Chair thanked officers for the update provided and it was RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Members are asked to note the schedule of meetings agreed between Brent & Harrow for the remainder of the 2025-26 Municipal Year:

·             Wednesday 5 November 2025 at 6pm to be hosted (online) by the London Borough of Harrow

·             Thursday 5 March 2026 at 6pm to be hosted (online) by the London Borough of Brent

NOTED the dates for the schedule of meetings agreed between Brent & Harrow for the 2025-26 Municipal Year as follows:

·       Wednesday 5 November 2025 at 6pm to be hosted (online) by the

London Borough of Harrow

·       Thursday 5 March 2026 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 Deputy Director Democratic & Corporate Governance (London Borough of Brent) or their representative before the meeting in accordance with the constitutions of both councils.

None.