Agenda item

To receive an update on the Service’s performance mid-way through the year highlighting some of the key achievements and key challenges faced.

Anu Prashar (Senior Regulatory Service Manager, Brent Council) presented a report detailing the Trading Standards Brent and Harrow Mid-Year Report 2023/24 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:

·   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 conducted both local authorities’ statutory duties relating to the legislation enforced by a Weights and Measures Authority. As part of the contractual agreement between the two boroughs, an annual report was presented to the Trading Standards Joint Advisory Board.

·   This year the Service had produced a mid-year report to provide Members with information about what the Service had been doing without having to wait until the publication of the annual report.

·   The report for the mid-way review only covered work conducted between 1 April to 30 September 2023. Any future work or pending outcome would be reported in the Annual report.

·   The Service had received 2,039 service requests during this period from various sources including consumers, businesses, other local authorities, the ports, and enforcement bodies such as the Police. Of these, 539 were further analysed by the Brent Team and 352 by the Harrow team and 1,148 were notifications of action being undertaken.

·   The majority of complaints related to used car dealers, and t has been high on residents list of complaints.

The Service, paid for by businesses, had delivered 65 hours of tailored advice to businesses in connection with the statutory Primary Authority Scheme. This was related to physical and online compliance on clothing, electricals, and homeware covering trademarks, product safety, and fair trading. A Primary Authority business had also been advised on underage sales matters, with specific guidance on appropriate systems in place to ensure age restricted products were not available to children.

·   Due to the cost-of-living crisis officers were working to ensure that consumers were not taken advantage of and that businesses had a fair playing field. As part of that officers had gone around the borough, testing scales, checking prices on the high streets, and tested over 70 weighing across both boroughs where 17 have so far been found to be non-compliant by being either unstamped or out of tolerance at the higher end. Of these4 had been taken out of service, 4 had been verified and the remaining were in the process of being verified which required officers to revisit the businesses again to ensure they were compliant. Thus far, any of the scales that had been not within the permitted tolerance are in fact to the benefit of the customer in that they are weighing less than the actual weight. In relation to Weights & Measures visits 26 businesses were visited in Brent and 13 in Harrow. During visits, officers had inspected and provided advice on specific products not priced and the need to ensure that all products were priced. In addition, the team has visited 27 businesses (14 in Brent and 13 in Harrow) that are considered as High Risk or are amongst the most complained about Business within the Borough. The intended target for the year is to conduct a total of 56 of these visits (31 in Brent and 27 in Harrow).

·   One of the areas of concern was the supply and sale of second-hand tyres (part-worn tyres) and over 20 businesses that supplied and sold part-worn tyres had received written advice and guidance providing practical steps to ensure compliance with the consumer protection law relevant to their business.

Results in Court:

A total of Four cases concluded in court during the reporting period.

The first case concerned a seizure of 350-unit packets of illicit tobacco not carrying the compliant health warning and not in the standardised packets.

The second case was a seizure of illicit tobacco from a coffee and nut roaster with 908-unit packs of cigarettes, 5-unit packs of hand-rolling tobacco, and 85 packs/tubs of shisha molasses tobacco (47.7 kg).

The third case was about a sole trader in Wealdstone who sold not one but two vapes to a 15- year-old girl. He even asked the volunteer’s age and she responded 15!

The fourth case was about a seizure of illicit tobacco from a butcher on Greenford Road, Harrow, which was found with 1,187-unit packs of cigarettes. The company and the director pleaded guilty to all charges.

Letting Agent Compliance Work:

The Service continued to pro-actively conduct online audits of agents actively advertising property rentals service as well as respond to complaints it had so far issued.

·                 a total of 15 Notice of Intent (NOI) to issue monetary penalties against agents that have been found not to comply in the past.

·                 10 of the NOIs issued have resulted in monetary penalty notices officially known as Final Notice being issued to a total of £25,050.00 (£10,450 for Brent & Harrow £14,600)

·                 1 had withdrawn and the agent has been issued with a letter of warning.

·                 4 NOIs are still pending further decisions.

Age Restricted Product Sales

27 businesses have been visited with regards to checking its compliance with regards to the sale of age restricted products to minors. 19 of these have been Brent and 8 in Harrow. Out of the 8 businesses in Harrow tested 4 of these have sold to the child volunteers.  This is a 50% failure rate so far.

These businesses are currently under investigation and the outcome will be reported in the annual report.

The failure rate in Brent currently is at 5.26% with only one sale out of 19 businesses visited to check compliance.

Doorstep Crime & Scams

Whilst the team is set to deliver a rapid response service to our local residents to prevent, disrupt and deter doorstep criminals, to date it has not received any Rapid Response request although it has received complaints about building and renovation services which it has looked into further.

Officers have supported residents by arranging for Building Control Inspectors and surveyors to visit and assess work conducted to assist with civil routes of redress. A local Brent business was issued a formal warning for falsely claiming Trustmark membership. Whilst in this case, it was a lapsed membership, rogue businesses know that accreditation can influence a resident’s decision on whether to appoint a business or not, so we act on this information immediately and can, where necessary, remove a website from the internet.

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

Following prosecution for underage selling Members questioned whether shop owners were still permitted to trade. Officers advised that shop owners could trade before and after the prosecution, but they would be subject to increased scrutiny.

·   In terms of reports of letting agents demanding high fees and private auction officers advised that few reports had been received due to tenants not wanting to lose their accommodation. In addition, the Tenancy Fee Act did not permit letting agents to overcharge for the deposit as it was set at 1 month’s rent and or overcharge for lost keys or similar items. Only 15 cases across Brent and Harrow had been reported and investigated There have been press releases to encourage more tenants to report these agents.

·   Members questioned whether outreach work and leafleting Could be conducted to address doorstep scams. Officers advised that homeowners could put up a door sticker stating that residents would not buy or sell at the door but and this be discussed after the meeting.

·   With reference to Paan shops and the spitting on the ground from people buying the paans, officers advised that they could not do anything about the spitting which would be dealt with enforcement officers and the sale of paan could not be stopped unless tobacco was sold inside of them for which a licence was required. Trading Standards had no jurisdiction in in terms of sales but could visit shops to check that illicit tobacco was not being sold. Simon Legg advised that it was difficult and costly to evaluate the paan to see if it contains tobacco and educational was key. Harrow had introduced a new PSPO to fine people spitting.

The Chair sought clarification on the level of age restricted product sales. Officers advised that work with shop owners was ongoing in order to educate but more shops were selling vapes and this was increasing the number of age restricted sales.

Having considered the report, the Board RESOLVED:  That the Mid-Year Report 2023-2024 be noted.