VE Day: Council duties under the Armed Forces Covenant
As we mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Geoff Wild, Legal & Governance Consultant, looks at the duties of councils under the Armed Forces Covenant.
Trading standards teams struggle due to inadequate funding
07/05/2025 Nineteen local authorities failed to carry out standard inspections of businesses last year due to a lack of funding and resources, according to new research. |
Trading standards services get £10m boost
26/03/2025 The Government has announced an investment of £10m to help improve trading standards services across England. |
Trading standards cuts expose millions to danger
03/02/2025 Millions of people are exposed to scams and dangerous products because of understaffed trading standards teams, a freedom of information request has revealed. |
Council confiscates ‘illicit’ candy ahead of Halloween
09/10/2024 Westminster City Council has incinerated more than 600 illegal items confiscated from an Oxford Street shop in a pre-Halloween candy store raid. |
Conman who ‘rinsed’ elderly victims of £500k imprisoned
31/07/2024 Lancashire CC welcomes a court decision to sentence a conman to nearly five years in prison after he scammed vulnerable residents out of more than £500,000. |
Trading standards officers 20,000 oversized vapes
21/05/2024 Trading standards officers from Barking and Dagenham Council last week confiscated almost 20,000 oversized and illegal disposable vapes from one shop. |
Vape industry proposes alcohol-style licensing scheme
21/02/2024 A first-of-its kind licensing framework for the UK vape industry is being put forward in Parliament today. |
The Trading Standards Crisis
15/02/2024 John Herriman, chief executive at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, discusses the impact of the local government funding crisis on Trading Standards. |
Only one in 20 illegal vape sellers fined
13/02/2024 Illegal vapes were seized from nearly 3,000 unscrupulous sellers last year, but only one in 20 were issued fines, new FOI requests have revealed. |
Council seizes £55k of illegal supersize vapes
01/02/2024 Supersize vapes with tanks many times the size of the UK legal limit were among a recent £55,000 haul made by Westminster City Council from one West End shop. |
Disposable vapes to be banned
29/01/2024 Disposable vapes will be banned in the UK to protect children’s health, the Government announced today. |
Vape sniffer dog uncovers £18.5k of contraband
27/11/2023 A sniffer dog has helped Lancashire County Council’s Trading Standards team uncover thousands of pounds worth of counterfeit e-cigarettes and tobacco. |
‘Candy store’ numbers drop as council crackdown continues
04/10/2023 Westminster City Council has seen some success in its clampdown on Oxford Street's US-style ‘candy stores’, with the number dropping to 21 from 29. |
Council seizes £32,000 of illegal tobacco
07/08/2023 North Somerset Council has seized £32,000 worth of illegal tobacco from premises in Weston-super-Mare. |
Enfield trading standards cuts risk public safety
08/06/2023 Enfield Council is at risk of becoming the first local authority without a Trading Standards team after a decision to let go of three quarters of the team. |
Council helps Premier League stop £7m streaming fraud
31/05/2023 Five men who illegally streamed Premier League matches have been jailed following a trading-standards investigation led by Hammersmith and Fulham Council. |
Crackdown on sale of vapes to children launched
30/05/2023 A review of the rules governing the sale of vapes to under 18s could make it easier for local Trading Standards to issue fines and fixed penalty notices. |
Westminster council takes on tax avoiding candy stores
25/05/2023 Westminster City Council has declared war on US-style candy and souvenir stores that are failing to pay business rates or selling illegal or unsafe goods. |
Rochdale council disrupts £65m counterfeit goods network
23/02/2023 The trading standards team at Rochdale Borough Council has disrupted a criminal counterfeit goods operation worth up to £65m a year. |
Barnet Council ‘insources’ services after decade-long campaign
01/02/2023 More than 300 staff in Barnet are to be transferred back to council employment after a decade-long union campaign. |
Retailers could be fined up to £1m for selling knives to children
01/06/2022 Large retailers selling to knives to children could be fined up to £1m under new proposals, after a London council warned the current sentences did not reflect the seriousness of the offence. |
Support for air quality enforcement
05/11/2021 Bruce Allen says councils need more knowledge and support to enforce the ban on selling and using wet wood and house coal for burning at home. |
Council given power to remove dangerous goods from eBay
11/05/2021 Local authorities will be able to report and remove illegal or unsafe items from eBay under a new pilot scheme. |
Local authorities struggling to enforce rules on chemical safety
24/08/2020 Councils unable to enforce rules on chemical safety as new research shows one in four products tested contain dangerous levels of hazardous chemicals. |
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Councils warn about surge in virus-related scams
11/05/2020 Council leaders have reported a 40% increase in reported scams since the start of the coronavirus crisis. |
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Councils to enforce business closures during Covid-19
23/03/2020 Local authorities will be responsible for ensuring businesses and other venues are closed to safeguard public health. |
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Trading standards officers seize bottles of ‘harmful’ hand sanitizer
23/03/2020 Trading standards enforcement officers in Birmingham have seized bottles of potentially harmful hand sanitizer from a trader looking to capitalize on the coronavirus outbreak. |
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Council chiefs warn of ‘fake toys’ danger
09/12/2019 Local authority leaders have warned people to be careful of counterfeit toys and suspect online sellers in the run up to Christmas following recent seizures of harmful products. |
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Trading standards services surviving despite being ‘hit hard by austerity’
08/11/2019 Over 20 million illegal products have been detained by local trading standards services in the last year despite Government cuts, a new report has revealed. |
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Council secures ‘unusual’ legal order against home improvement firms
07/11/2019 Gateshead Council has used a little-used piece of legislation to take enforcement action against two home improvement agencies. |
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Councils issue warning over toxic skin-lightening creams
30/09/2019 Local government leaders have warned of the dangers of skin-lightening creams that 'act like paint stripper' and increase the risk of cancer. |
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County council’s trading standards team seizes £23m of unsafe items
21/08/2019 A trading standards team in Suffolk has seized nearly one million unsafe consumer items at the Port of Felixstowe. |
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Dangerous tyres putting lives at risk, warn councils
20/05/2019 Part-worn tyres are being sold with serious safety defects, unsafe repairs and incorrect labelling, council leaders have warned. |
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Investigators warn councils of ‘chameleon fraudsters’
16/05/2019 Investigators have warned councils to be wary of fraudsters as report reveals one in eight disqualified company directors avoid detection and still have active directorships. |
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Councils call for extra funding to tackle illegal knife sales
15/05/2019 The prosecution fund to help councils tackle illegal knife sales needs urgent investment, town hall chiefs have warned. |
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Councils call for extra funding to stop UK being flooded with unsafe products
15/04/2019 Council leaders have warned new national bodies are not the best way to protect the UK from unsafe products. |
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Sector fumes over lack of pre-Brexit briefing
21/02/2019 Councils have threatened to walk away from Government attempts to engage with them on Brexit amid growing frustrations about the response to their concerns. |
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Consumer enforcement system on ‘verge of collapse’, report warns
04/02/2019 The consumer enforcement system is too reliant on overstretched local authorities and is on ‘the verge of collapse’, watchdog says. |
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Popular council services could be swallowed by £8bn funding black hole
01/02/2019 Many popular council services could disappear by 2025 due to a £8bn funding black hole, council leaders have warned today. |
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Councils struggle to stop rogue retailers selling knives to children
15/10/2018 Local authority leaders have called for more powers to crack down on retailers illegally selling knives to children. |
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Councils defend use of fake facebook profiles
04/09/2018 Councils in North Wales have defended their right to use fake Facebook profiles to gather information on illegal activities. |
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Fake cosmetics ‘dangerous’, warn council chiefs
28/08/2018 Thousands of pounds worth of dangerous fake cosmetics have been uncovered across the country by trading standards officers, local government leaders warn. |
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Cuts to trading standards putting older people at risk of fraud, warns charity
09/03/2018 Cuts to trading standards services are leaving millions of older people at risk of fraud, according to Age UK. |
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County at ‘crisis point’ announces revised budget
28/02/2018 Northamptonshire County Council has announced revised budget savings after being warned by auditors to revise its spending plans. |
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Faulty white goods causing 60 house fires a week
15/02/2018 Faulty white goods are causing more than 60 house fires a week, a new investigation by Which? has revealed. |
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Councils could be allowed to replace ‘poorly performing’ funfairs, Gov says
23/08/2017 The main trade body for funfairs has agreed to change its rules in response to the Government’s claim that they ‘break competition law’. |
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Council prosecutes letting agent for issuing ‘sham licences’
22/08/2017 Islington Council has successfully prosecuted a letting agent for issuing ‘sham licences’ in the first prosecution of its kind. |
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Councils call for action to halt illegal knife sales
31/07/2017 Town hall bosses have called for tougher fines and sentences to stop shops illegally selling knives to children. |
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Product safety system is ‘putting lives at risk’ warns watchdog
19/07/2017 The UK’s product safety and recall system is not fit for purpose and lacks national oversight, a new report has warned today. |
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Enforcement regime on displaying agent fees ‘failing’, survey reveals
02/06/2017 The enforcement regime on displaying agent fees is ‘failing’, says licensing group as survey reveals the majority of councils are not issuing penalties for non-compliance. |
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Hi-tech ‘nuisance call’ blockers to be given to elderly
06/04/2017 Elderly and vulnerable people are to be given hi-tech devices to block nuisance calls. |
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Motorists warned not to ‘dice with death’ with second-hand tyres
23/01/2017 Motorists should not ‘dice with death’ by buying illegally sold second-hand tyres, council chiefs warn. |
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Consumer protection bodies ‘underfunded’, auditors say
15/12/2016 Local Trading Standards services are expected to enforce hundreds of pieces of legislation while their funding and staffing numbers are cut, auditors warn. |
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Vaping products included in tobacco council survey
18/11/2016 E-cigarettes and products associated with vaping have been included in a survey of the activity of council trading standards teams for the first time. |
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Councils warned to have 'robust' trading standards
06/10/2016 Councils have been warned to think carefully about their statutory duties when cutting services amid the threat of legal action. |
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Mamma mia! Council identifies ham and cheese pizzas...without ham or cheese
04/10/2016 A quarter of takeaway pizzas fail to contain the ingredients listed, an investigation by Warwickshire County Council has found. |
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Kent first approved council to provide Alternative Dispute Resolution services
10/08/2016 Kent has become the first local authority to be approved to provide Alternative Dispute Resolution services to consumers in a bid to resolve their complaints with traders. |
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Retailers ‘flout’ laws on selling e-cigarettes to children
09/08/2016 Four in ten retailers flout the laws on nicotine inhaling products, study shows. |
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Rogue companies dump more than 1,000 cars near Gatwick Airport
28/06/2016 A investigation by two councils and the police has uncovered more than a 1,000 vehicles abandoned by rogue parking operators in a boggy field near Gatwick Airport. |
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Councils back ‘legal high’ ban
26/05/2016 Local authorities have welcomed a new law banning so-called ‘legal highs’, which comes into force today (26 May). |
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Councils call for action on 'dangerous' teeth whitening kits
04/04/2016 Council leaders are urging people not to use ‘dangerous’ DIY teeth whitening kits, warning they can cause mouth infections and damage to nerves and tooth enamel. |
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Sunday trading hours to be extended
09/02/2016 Councils will be given powers to extend Sunday trading hours under new regulations expected to be announced in the autumn. |
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Illegally imported puppies given as Christmas presents may die within hours, warn local government leaders
22/12/2015 Illegally imported puppies given as Christmas presents may become sick or even die within hours, local government leaders have warned. |
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Derbyshire pizzas fail the ingredients test
04/09/2015 Food outlets in Derbyshire have been warned to label their products properly after an investigation found more than two thirds of ham and cheese pizzas did not contain the right ingredients. |
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Operation reveals extent of under-age cigarette sales
10/08/2015 An investigation has found almost a fifth of retailers sell cigarettes to children with the figure rising to around a quarter in London. |
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Government urged to radically reform structure of trading standards
10/06/2015 Local authority trading standards services should be abolished and replaced with larger, strategic authorities, according to a professional institute. |
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Councils seize toxic cigarettes in illegal trade crack down
26/08/2014 Local authorities have seized millions of black market cigarettes containing high-levels of cancer causing chemicals as part of a crack down on illegal trade. |
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Takeaway meat scare prompts prioritised council testing
17/04/2014 Councils are being asked to examine 300 food samples from takeaway restaurants, after lamb dishes across the UK were revealed to contain substitute meat. |
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'Dramatic' trading standards cuts will hit consumers
10/04/2014 Trading standards budget cuts of 40% have been damned as a ‘false economy’ by trade union Unison. |
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Union: Cuts decimating trading standards
19/12/2013 Spending cuts and staffing reductions are ‘decimating’ council trading standards services, trade union Unison has warned. |
