Trading Standards

Introduction


Advice


  • Consumer Advice - Consumer Advice in Hampshire is now provided by Consumer Direct South East. However, they will refer complex enquiries or those requiring further action to Hampshire Trading Standards. Consumer Direct is a telephone and online consumer advice service, that is supported by local authorities in the South East and by the Department of Trade and Industry.

    Contact information for Consumer Advice

  • Business Advice - Guidance on how to comply with trading standards law is freely available to all businesses operating in Hampshire. We can help with advice on a full range of law, for example: civil and criminal law; quality assurance; standards; unfair competition; labelling and advertising.

    Contact information for Business Advice

Safety and Standards Team


This team has four key roles:

Product Safety - This involves work with a wide range of European and UK legislation designed to protect consumers and help businesses (such as the safety of toys, electrical goods, furniture, personal protective equipment, nightwear, gas appliances, cosmetics, and recreational craft). Product Safety rules and CE marking help ensure only safe products are sold to the public, while at the same time opening up the Single Market for Hampshire companies to sell their products freely in other countries. Officers check for unsafe imported consumer products in the distribution chain, goods on sale in the shops and offer compliance and product recall advice, if required, to business.



Free child car seat safety check days are normally provided in conjunction with Hampshire company Britax Childcare.


Age Restricted Goods - We work to minimise the impact on young people's health and adverse effects on the community's quality of life which can arise from the abuse of age-restricted products like alcohol, cigarettes, solvents, fireworks and video/PC games. Business advice and enforcement (test purchasing) are used to ensure these products aren't sold to young people. New applications and variations to existing licences to supply alcohol are checked to ensure there is sufficient regard to protecting children from harm.


Tobacco labelling and promotion regulations are also enforced.



Environmental Safety - Businesses selling or storing petrol, poisons, and explosives are registered or licensed and regularly checked for safety. Records of derelict petrol storage tanks are kept and building works on sites monitored. Environmental labelling of pesticide residues and dangerous substances, together with minimising excess packaging, add to the team's substantial contribution to environmental safety.



Metrology - This role helps ensure all weighing and measuring equipment used in the County to sell goods and services is accurate. This includes such consumer transactions as buying petrol, heating oils, packaged goods and sales of bulk consumer and industrial products too. Even the accuracy of medical weighing in hospitals is monitored. The service also verifies new and repaired equipment to ensure accuracy. We have our own weighbridge testing unit to check on heavy weighing machines.



Fair Trading Team


The Fair Trading team is responsible for enforcing a wide range of criminal laws, through a combination of inspections, special projects and advice to business. The main areas of work include dealing with:


  • Misdescribed goods and services
  • Counterfeit goods
  • Misleading price indications
  • Misdescriptions by estate agents and property developers
  • Mileage fraud on motor vehicles
  • Package holidays and timeshare
  • Sale of unroadworthy vehicles
  • Rogue and doorstep traders

The Fair Trading team has adopted an 'intelligence-led' approach to enforcement. Using the National Intelligence Model, our control strategy currently sets out our priorities as - doorstep crime, supporting vulnerable consumers, business support, regulating the housing and credit markets and intellectual property crime. The aim is to ensure our limited resources are used to best effect protecting the trading environment for the benefit of the whole community. All sources of information, but in particular complaints, are used to identify trends and problem traders and to determine where our future activities should be focused.


We have also set up a quick response team to deal with the increase in complaints about doorstep traders who target the elderly and vulnerable. A number of specially trained officers can intervene at short notice and assist in dealing with such traders while they are still in the area. Hopefully this will be before any work has been started and the officers can prevent payment if the victim was cold called and not given written cancellation rights.


Food and Agriculture (Animal Health) Team


The Food and Agriculture Team promotes and enforces food, agriculture and animal health laws.


The team works to ensure food is correctly and accurately labelled, that it contains legal ingredients and that any claims made are truthful. It also deals with national food safety alerts and issues press releases to inform local businesses and consumers about product recalls or hazard warnings.


A promotion campaign on Healthy Eating started in 2005 and offers advice to consumers to help them understand food labels.


Our Animal Health officers regularly visit farms, abattoirs, and transit points to check that the health of livestock is maintained. Livestock movements are checked and monitored so that animals can be quickly traced in the event of an outbreak of serious notifiable disease, such as foot and mouth or swine fever. We also inspect animal feed producers and test the quality of fertilisers and feeding stuffs.



Buy With Confidence Scheme


In response to concerns about 'rogue traders' which are often highlighted in the media, Hampshire Trading Standards has taken a ground-breaking step by putting together the Buy With Confidence Scheme. The scheme provides consumers with a list of reliable local businesses which have proved their commitment to trading fairly. Every business listed has undergone a series of detailed checks before being approved as a member of the scheme. Full details, and the list of approved businesses can be viewed at www.buywithconfidence.gov.uk.


Protecting Older People (POP) Team


The Protecting Older People (POP) team is dedicated to warning older Hampshire residents of the dangers associated with dealing with uninvited doorstep sellers.The simple message is to say no at the door. In the past year we reached over 100 older people's groups and clubs by giving talks to explain the dangers and how to overcome them. If you would like a talk to your group or club please email doorstep.crime@hants.gov.uk or phone 01962 833620. We also offer Safe and Sound books, doorstickers and phone cards to enable you to check that a caller is genuine.



We also work with victims to ensure they are not targeted again by providing advice and, in some cases, Senior-link alarms.


Another aspect of our work is to highlight the issue with all types of carers and professionals who work with older people so that the message is passed on to those who can't get out.


Quick Response Team


Older people are particularly vulnerable to rogue traders who knock at the door and offer immediate work such as drives, roofing and gardening services. At best these individuals carry out poor quality work but charge sky high prices. In response to this the Fair Trading Team has set up a Quick Response Team (QRT) that goes out to cases where the trader is still on site or is going to return.


In most cases it is unlawful for cold callers to begin work unless written cancellation rights have been given in advance. The aim of the QRT is to attend the incident and advise both parties of their rights, to disrupt work and where appropriate prevent payment. Over the last four years 162 callouts were attended by Trading Standards Officers where there was direct intervention between the householder and the trader. This resulted in saving to the householders of over £203,000.


The victims, often frightened by the experience, are followed up with the offer of Seniorlink alarms and advice on how to make sure they are not targeted again. Residents in the surrounding area are warned that others might be caught out - both by a messaging service through voluntary groups such as Neighbourhood Watch and by leaflets entitled "Rogue traders are operating in this area" being delivered to all properties in the vicinity.


In one case the team was called to a woman who had been cold-called and asked if she wanted her drive tarmacced. She declined but was persuaded to have a quote. The next thing she knew the drive was being dug up. She pointed out that she hadn't agreed but was told that they had to dig it up to see what needed doing! She was then quoted £3000 for the job. She contacted Trading Standards and the QRT attended. They explained to the trader this way of working was unacceptable and he left the scene. The work was subsequently completed by a reputable trader from the Buy with Confidence scheme and the complainant was able to claim for criminal damage on her house insurance.