Agenda and minutes

To be appointed from the London Borough of Brent for this meeting.

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

Apologies for absence were from Councillor Kennelly (London Borough of Brent) with Councillor Miller attending as a substitute.

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 Wednesday 1 November 2023.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 1 November 2023 be approved and signed as a correct record.

None.

No requests for deputations had been submitted for the meeting.

This report provides Members with information concerning the proposed level of fees and charges to be made by the Brent & Harrow Trading Standards Service during 2024/25. 

The Board received a report, presented by Anu Prashar (Senior Regulatory Service Manager, Brent Council) providing Members with information concerning the proposed level of fees and charges to be made by the Brent & Harrow Trading Standards Service during 2024/25.

In considering the report the Joint Advisory Board noted that in accordance with paragraph 13(f) of the Consortium Agreement between the London Borough of Brent and the London Borough of Harrow, the Joint Advisory Board was required to consider and make recommendations on the level of fees and charges to be made in respect of any part of the service.  The Board was advised that Trading Standards fees fell into the following categories:

1)             Statutory fees (set by legislation, although some offered discretion to vary the amount up to a maximum value);

2)             Retail Price Index (RPI) linked fees (agreed previously by Brent’s Executive); and

3)             Discretionary fees (there was discretion to vary the value charged).

Statutory fees were set nationwide by the Government, with local authorities having no discretion to change the fees although on occasions, the legislation would permit a fee to be set locally up to a maximum value.

Having outlined the proposed charges under each of the above categories, including the Primary Authority fees, Weights & Measures fees & Financial Investigator fees the Board thanked Anu Prashar for her report and RESOLVED to note and endorse the Joint Advisory Board Report on Fees and Charges for 2024-25.

To provide Members with information concerning the proposed 2024/25 work plan for Brent & Harrow Trading Standards.   

Anu Prashar (Senior Regulatory Service Manager, Brent Council) presented a report detailing the proposed 2024/25 work plan for Brent & Harrow Trading Standards.

In considering the report the Board noted:

·            The work plan aimed to set out priority areas for the coming year and provide a guide to the expected levels of performance for each of the boroughs’ teams whilst also offering flexibility to assist in meeting unexpected demands and to adapt service delivery as required, to meet emerging threats or respond to major investigations or assist our Primary Authority businesses on complex and legal matters.

·            The assumptions on which the work plan had been set, as set out within the Work Plan attached as Appendix 1 to the report.  The Plan had also ben designed to incorporate priority areas of work identified by the National Trading Standards Board and London Trading Standards as well as reflect the key corporate priorities within each borough’s Corporate Plan.

·            The High Priority areas of work identified within the Plan for 2024-24, which included illicit tobacco and vape products and underage sales.

·            The ongoing focus within the Plan on activities in relation to the cost of living and consumer complaints, such as testing weighing scales, price comparisons and promotions to make sure that consumers were not being misled.

·            The medium and lower term priorities outlined within the Plan for 2024-25 along with work volumes across the service, which were subject to continual review to ensure priorities were being implemented effectively.

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

·              Clarification was sought regarding the National Trading Standards Board’s priority regarding animal feed and how relevant that was to the service.  Anu Prashar explained that this work was focussed around the avoidance of contamination with regular site visits undertaken to ensure animal feed was not contaminated.  The Service checked that the right controls and procedures were in place similar to HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) used in food safety to ensure little to no contamination.  These included visits to supermarkets as well as farms to monitor the quality of the animal food supply chain.

·              Clarification was sought on whether pet food was also considered by the Service.  Anu Prashar said that pet food was the end product of animal feed and analysing pet food may be the second stage of the project including taking samples of pet foods and ensuring that the statutory declaration was adhering to labels.

·            Further details were sought on whether consideration was given to harm when identifying priorities within the Plan and how these were agreed between the joint boroughs.  It was clarified that consideration was given to harm as well as national and local priorities.  The vulnerabilities of residents were considered as well as signposting to partners like the Citizen’s Advice Bureau.  Criminal breaches were rated and if the criminal breach was of low value that it would be signposted whereas a criminal breach of high value would be investigated, but  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Members are asked to note the schedule of meetings agreed between Brent & Harrow for the 2024-25 Municipal Year:

·             Thursday 6 June 2024 at 6pm to be hosted (online) by the London Borough of Harrow.

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

·             Wednesday 19 March 2025 at 6pm to be hosted (online) by the London Borough of Harrow.

NOTED the dates for future meetings of the Advisory Board agreed for the 2024-25 Municipal Year, as follows:

•         Thursday 6 June 2024 at 6pm to be hosted (online) by the London Borough of Harrow.

•         Wednesday 6 November 2024 at 6pm to be hosted (online) by the London Borough of Brent.

•         Wednesday 19 March 2025 at 6pm to be hosted (online) by the London Borough of Harrow.

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

None.