Trading Standards Service Performance Report 2022 to 2023

The primary aim of the Trading Standards Service is to provide a fair and safe trading environment for the benefit of both consumers and reputable businesses within the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. This is done through a mix of advice, education, enforcement and partnership work.

Key areas of work, which support local, regional and national priorities, are identified through the service planning process. For 2022 to 2023, the service identified five key priority areas which are highlighted in these pages, along with some of the main achievements in each of those priority areas.

• the service has dealt with over 850 complaints, including those handled by the Trading Standards Advice Centre and those investigated by Trading Standards Officers. In addition to this, our partner agency, the Citizens Advice Consumer Service, has provided advice to over 1,300 local residents within the Borough
• a landscape gardener from Billingham was handed a 19-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to fraud and unfair trading offences in relation to sub-standard and incomplete paving and landscaping work. He was also charging customers VAT when he was not VAT registered. Part of this offending occurred during the period of a suspended sentence from a previous prosecution against him in March 2021
• during the year, Trading Standards Officers visited over 550 business premises in the Borough. Through these contacts a variety of activities were carried out, including checks on whether businesses were complying with fair trading rules, advice on the labelling of foodstuffs, checks on the safety of products offered for sale, the validity of pricing information and the accuracy of weighing and measuring equipment in use for trade
• a local builder was prosecuted in relation to substandard building work and charging customers VAT when he was not VAT registered. After pleading guilty to unfair trading and fraud offences, the trader was sentenced to 30 weeks imprisonment suspended for 2 years and ordered to undertake 200 hours of unpaid community work. He was also ordered to pay £8,000 in compensation to the victims
• a Stockton trader was sentenced to 9 weeks imprisonment suspended for 18 months and ordered to undertake 300 hours of unpaid community work, after failing to complete landscaping work despite receiving payment up-front. He was also ordered to pay the victims over £7,000 in compensation

• the service received almost 50 requests for business advice on specific Trading Standards issues such as civil law responsibilities, product safety, e-commerce and food labelling provisions
• new rules have come into force making it a criminal offence for businesses to administer Botox or cosmetic fillers to anyone under the age of 18. Guidance on the new rules have been drafted and sent out to over 300 local beauty salons
• new regulations have been introduced concerning calorie labelling requirements for non-prepacked food at specified catering establishments and also placement requirements for food high in fat, sugar or salt at specified retailers. Compliance checks against these new rules were undertaken, with 43 visits carried out and advice given on 15 occasions
• the service has continued to target rogue traders in order to help protect consumers and provide a level playing field for reputable businesses. In doing this, the boss of a home improvement company was given a 12-month prison sentence suspended for 2 years after pleading guilty to participating in a fraudulent business. He was also ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid community work. The business model was to cold call on householders, take up-front deposits for agreed renovations but then fail to carry out any work. In the limited number of cases where work was carried out, it was either substandard or incomplete

• work has continued on Operation CeCe in conjunction with HMRC and other regional Trading Standards partners, looking into the supply of counterfeit and illicit tobacco across the region. This work has led to the prosecution of a shop owner in Stockton, who was given a 24 month community sentence and ordered to pay costs of almost £500. In addition a simple caution was issued to a local resident involved in the supply of illicit and counterfeit tobacco from her home address and a 3 month closure order was obtained against a shop premises in Thornaby
• officers have continued to advise local takeaways and other caterers selling ready to eat food, about the rules requiring the provision of accurate allergen information at the point of sale. Over the past year, officers have made almost 150 visits to outlets in the Borough checking with regard to issues around the control and management of allergens in food, giving advice on 68 of these visits
• throughout the year, officers have carried out regular underage sales test purchase exercises with young volunteers, to check whether shops are selling age restricted products such as alcohol, cigarettes, vapes and fireworks to underage children. There were 8 positive sales from a total of 34 attempts, giving a failure rate of 24%. As a result, 2 simple cautions have been issued to traders with regard to the sale of vapes to children and on another occasion the sale of illicit tobacco to a child volunteer was used as evidence to help secure a 3 month closure order against a shop in Thornaby
• the service has once again participated in the Food Standards Agency's regional animal feed hygiene inspection and sampling programme. This work helps ensure that local farms and animal feed establishments are complying with regulations to protect the safety of animal feed and hence the onward integrity of the human food chain
• a significant amount of work was undertaken during the year, looking at the safety of disposable vaping devices on sale within the Borough. Many were found on sale without the necessary approval from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and contained over the permitted limit of 2ml liquid and 2% nicotine. Many also lacked the required safety information. In total almost 2,000 non-compliant vapes were seized

• the service has signed a partnership agreement with the National Scams Team (NST) to help in identifying, advising and educating those vulnerable local consumers who are being targeted by scam mail and other mass marketing scams. As a result, officers have contacted 47 individual victims following priority referrals from the NST
• no Cold Calling Zones have been introduced around the Borough to reduce the number of bogus callers and rogue traders operating in particular areas and to help educate and empower residents in dealing effectively with cold callers. During the year, 19 new zones were established, bringing the total number within the Borough to almost 150
• work around scams awareness and fraud prevention has continued. As part of this, almost 90 notifications on current and trending scams were sent to the Media Team for public circulation via social media and press releases. Articles on scams awareness have also been published in Stockton News and officers have attended awareness raising events at both Stockton and Billingham markets
• the boss of a local window company was prosecuted after he swindled a vulnerable elderly couple out of £4,500 as payment for swing and slide patio doors, which he then subsequently failed to deliver. The trader was handed a 12-month community order after pleading guilty to unfair trading and fraud offences. He was also ordered to pay £5,000 in compensation to the victims and £1,700 in legal costs

• customer satisfaction levels for the Trading Standards Advice Centre remained exceptionally high with a satisfaction index of 95.2%
• the service has helped local consumers recover over £315,000 in redress following complaints about the supply of faulty, unsafe or misdescribed goods and services
• on average, officers received over 77 hours of training over the year, with the vast majority of this being free or low-cost events hosted through the North East Trading Standards Association or the Chartered Trading Standards Institute
• the service has embraced a 'grow your own' approach in order to develop and train qualified Trading Standards Officers. In September 2022, an apprentice was appointed to work towards completion of the Level 4 Regulatory Compliance Officer apprenticeship, the very first rung on the ladder to becoming a fully qualified TSO. In addition, both current Enforcement Officers have been registered on the Professional Qualifications Framework and both have now successfully completed Stage 1
• the service has reviewed and redrafted the Council's Regulatory Services Enforcement Policy and also developed a Penalty Policy in relation to relevant Letting Agency legislation, including the Tenant Fees Act 2019. Both policies have been subject to internal scrutiny from regulatory partners and wider public consultation, and both received formal approval from Cabinet in July 2022