Warwickshire County Council’s Trading Standards Service has defined how it intends to protect consumers and support the growth of Warwickshire businesses with the launch of its new business plan.
Warwickshire County Councillor Andy Crump, Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, said:
“This is an ambitious new plan that sets out our priorities for the coming years, to protect the most vulnerable from financial harm, prevent the sale of dangerous and harmful products, support Warwickshire businesses to grow, diversify and adapt to new circumstances and establish strong partnerships to keep our communities safe.”
“We are proud of the wide range of skills across our Trading Standards team and the strong partnerships that we have created. We want to provide the best service we can to our residents and businesses and our new business plan clearly describes how we intend to do this.”
Key actions include:
- Invest in and promote trueCall devices that help block bogus phone calls and prevent financial fraud and scams, reinvigorate our No Cold Caller zones and close down websites connected to fraudulent activity
- Work with partners to ensure consumers know their shopping rights and can exercise them
- Via a dedicated Business Advice Service, provide practical information for businesses and business sectors, including on EU exit and COVID-19 regulations
- Remove dangerous products from sale including unroadworthy cars and unsafe toys, cosmetics, and electrical products
- Target food businesses with poor hygiene ratings and a history of failing to abide by the law
- Tackling and disrupting the supply of counterfeit products, including the sale of illegal cigarettes and tobacco
- Pursuing prosecution action against businesses consistently selling age-restricted goods (including alcohol, cigarettes, and knives) to children
We will ask the views of those who use our services to help ensure we meet changing needs and that our plan remains relevant to Warwickshire consumers and businesses.
The Warwickshire Trading Standards Business Plan 2021-2024 can be found at: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/tradingstandards