Regulatory Services

Neath Port Talbot trading standards officers seize a £400,000 haul of rip-off computer supplies.

Local authority regulatory services protect the public and ensure a fair trading environment exists by licensing and regulating activities and premises; advising on and enforcing public health and trading standards.

The role of local authorities
Local authority Trading Standards & Environmental Health Services, taken as a whole, are the largest enforcement operation across England and Wales. They enforce hundreds of pieces of legislation and operate in nearly every industrial and commercial sector. However, their role has developed into a far wider one than just enforcement. These services play a crucial role in their local communities and provide key support to local businesses. These core services to the public are about the quality and standards of life. They make our communities safe places in which to live, shop and entertain.

The regulatory services of a council include:-

• environmental health
• trading standards
• pollution control
• pest control
• building control
• advice services
• licensing
• food safety
• health and safety
• animal health

Local authorities aim to protect the public through proactive, consistent enforcement of legislation and the provision of advice to reduce risk to health, prevent nuisance, and minimise crime and disorder.

The introduction of the ban on smoking in public places and workplaces has been a major new challenge for local authorities. A high profile local and national awareness campaign ahead of the ban together with an extensive programme of advisory/enforcement visits resulted in a high degree of compliance with the ban in the initial period. Monitoring will need to continue to ensure maximum effectiveness of this new legislation.

Another new challenge has arisen from the introduction in 2007 of the Gambling Act 2005 which has seen local authorities assume responsibility for gambling licences previously controlled by magistrates courts. Together with the Gambling Commission, local authorities are now responsible for issuing gambling licences to prevent gambling from being a source of crime and disorder, to protect children and vulnerable adults and ensure that gambling can be conducted fairly.

Trading standards consumer advice is now available six days a week from Consumer Direct, a national helpline jointly operated by local authority trading standards services and the Office of Fair Trading. Any issues which require further investigation are referred to the relevant local authority’s trading standards service. Consumer Direct receives over 95,000 calls per annum from Welsh consumers.

Consumer debt is widely recognised as a major issue with recent research indicating that more Welsh households have active credit commitments than the British average. Unregulated, illegal money lending (operated by ‘loan sharks’) is also an emerging issue for concern and a new all-Wales unit is being set up to combat this problem. Similar work in other areas of the UK has led to a reduction in petty crime in areas where a ‘loan shark’ has been removed. The unit will also provide appropriate support to victims and communities affected, working with other agencies to provide money advice and financial assistance.

Key facts

• the ban on smoking in public places and workplaces was introduced in Wales on 2nd April 2007 and councils in Wales inspected over 10,000 premises in the first 2 months of the ban
• 24,564 restaurants and other caterers were subject to food hygiene inspections in 2005/06 in Wales
• there are approximately 18,000 vehicles licensed to operate as taxis in Wales
• there are many areas of derelict and contaminated land in Wales. Since 2005, the Welsh Assembly Government has supported councils providing £5 million to enable the detailed investigation of over 100 sites in order to address contamination issues
• annually, over 65,000 consumer cases and around 35,000 business support requests are dealt with by Consumer Direct and trading standards services

Further information

Local Authority Regulatory Services at www.lacors.gov.uk
Chartered Institute of Environmental Health at www.cieh.org.uk
Trading Standards Wales: www.tradingstandardswales.org.uk
Trading Standards Institute: www.tradingstandards.gov.uk
Consumer Direct: www.consumerdirect.gov.uk

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