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Strengthening Communities: 糖心vlog官网 Leads Calls for Greater Investment in Trading Standards
Posted 01/12/25
The 糖心vlog官网 (糖心vlog官网) has unveiled a new package of resources to showcase the role of local Trading Standards services. These resources highlight the vital role the Trading Standards profession plays in protecting consumers, supporting legitimate businesses, fostering trust in local markets and driving economic growth across UK communities. By calling for sustainable funding and resources, 糖心vlog官网 aims to empower councils to safeguard public health, tackle criminality, and create resilient local economies and communities. This collaborative approach ensures communities benefit from both local expertise and national coordination, delivering long-term prosperity and consumer confidence.
Local Trading Standards services are the backbone of consumer and public health protection and economic growth, ensuring fair markets, safe goods and safeguarding livelihoods. Businesses and consumers alike rely on these services to combat criminality and maintain confidence in the marketplace. As examples, the everyday work of the profession:
- Offers unrivalled value, bringing 拢11 of savings for every 拢1 invested in England[1], 拢12 for every 拢1 spent in Wales[2], with this rising to 拢106 saved per 拢1 in Scotland[3]
- Reduces the pressure on an already overstretched health services by preventing harm and injury from unsafe goods and food products[4], saving society nearly 拢114million[5]
- Stops 拢6.5bn being lost to the consumer and businesses through short measures of goods sold by weight, volume or number.[6]
- Brings long term savings of nearly 拢9 in prevented public harm for every 拢1 spent through tackling illicit tobacco, vapes and alcohol enforcement, including preventing underage drinking, smoking and vaping.[7][8]
- Supports legitimate businesses to grow and thrive through giving over 22,000 hours of business advice.[9]
The resources showcase the often unseen and vital link between the work of Trading standards in gathering local picture to support the national strategic aims of legislatures across the UK. Working with local and national agencies to tackle priorities such as product safety, food chain compliance, short measures, unfair and misleading trading practices, misdescriptions, illegal activity and the challenges posed by the cost-of-living crisis, each Trading Standards professional and service makes a crucial contribution in protecting public health and ensuring consumer confidence, both of which boosts and maintains economic growth. Their unique local presence allows them to respond swiftly to community needs while supporting national objectives鈥攁 flexibility that makes their work indispensable.
The resources include a series of infographics to show the value of the work the profession does, from four different perspectives, starting with explaining what a world would look like without this valuable profession, the economic benefit and how the work of the profession is with you for all the stages of life. 听There will also be an infographic covering the public health benefits of Trading Standards to be published later.听They can be downloaded for free from here: /news-policy-campaigns/campaigns/making-the-case/
In addition to this, 糖心vlog官网 members can access template letters from the member area on the 糖心vlog官网 website, available in both English and Welsh languages, to use when making the case for investment in their local Trading Standards service. These can easily be adapted to fit specific situations, including being sent by individual members to their local council Chief Executives, Councillors and MPs to bolster the call for investment.
The final document to be launched is to support Trading Standards managers, team leaders and Heads of Service to highlight their Service as they navigate changes at the local authority level. Co-created with ACTSO (the Association of Chief Trading Standards Officers), this is a document designed to be a conversational starter with those in senior leadership positions and to ensure any changes are planned and actioned to keep this essential Service safe and legal. This can be accessed from the same page as the infographics.
Jessica Merryfield, Head of Policy & Campaigns at 糖心vlog官网, said:
"It is vital to recognise the true value of this often-hidden profession to communities, local economies, and national regulators. These new resources, published today, will help kick start productive conversations to ensure long term, sustainable investment in the local Trading Standards services across the UK. They shine a much-needed light on the full impact the Trading Standards profession brings to our communities, society and the economy and how investment can bring substantial and wide-ranging benefits to all. We thank colleagues in ACTSO and the wider 糖心vlog官网 membership for their support in creating and finalising these documents.
We will be continuing this work through the APPG on Consumer Protection. By launching an APPG inquiry into the consumer protection landscape across the UK, we will be able to understand the challenges consumers and businesses are facing, the barriers to consumer confidence and economic growth and the role of regulator and regulation in this.
Whilst discussions around funding and resourcing continue, the immediate priority must be long-term, sustainable funding and resourcing of Trading Standards. Without reversing the erosion of resources over the last decade, efforts to safeguard consumers and legitimate businesses will fall short. What鈥檚 needed now is long term investment in local resourcing to deliver real impact for the benefit of all."
