CTSI welcomes Prime Minister’s commitment to strengthen closure orders

Posted 10/09/26

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) has welcomed the Prime Minister’s commitment to increase the maximum duration of closure orders from six months to twelve months, as part of revitalising our high streets. The announcement to bolster closure orders is a victory for CTSI’s recent campaigning and will help Trading Standards – and partner agencies – to more robustly close down “dodgy shops”.

Closure Orders are a key enforcement option in the toolkit of Trading Standards Officers. Currently, they provide certain enforcement agencies the ability to close “dodgy shops” for up to three months (and can be extended to a maximum of six months) - thereby safeguarding local communities from the significant risks that dodgy shops pose. The extension of this power to up to twelve months in total will assist enforcement in closing dodgy shops, which safeguards communities and supports the level playing field for legitimate businesses.

A recent CTSI member survey showed almost universal support for extending the duration of Closure Orders, which addresses one of the challenges that limits their impact.

While the extension of Closure Order durations is a positive step forward, other challenges remain with their use. For example, County Councils that operate in a two-tier authority area cannot issue Closure Orders, and nor are the powers available in Scotland. In a recent CTSI members survey, just 11% of Scottish Trading Standards professionals felt that Scottish Local Authority Trading Standards services have sufficient powers to close a premises that persistently breaks the law.

John Herriman, Chief Executive at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI), said: “CTSI welcomes the Prime Minister’s announcement on the planned extension to the maximum duration of closure orders, which will help to close down dodgy shops for longer.

“Closure orders are an important enforcement tool available to Local Authority Trading Standards teams. They can provide a more immediate safeguard for communities, and more immediate disruption to criminal activity. Today's announcement will assist enforcement agencies in being more able to robustly disrupt the most persistent offenders.

“The presence of dodgy shops on our high streets has a significant negative impact on local communities and legitimate businesses. Local Authority Trading Standards play a vital role in maintaining the level-playing field for businesses and creating safe, prosperous communities, and today’s announcement is a positive step to assist in efforts to allow our high streets to thrive.

"We are keen to work with UK Governments to unlock the full potential of strengthened closure orders by addressing some anomalies including permitting closure orders to be accessed in Scotland, and addressing the significant challenge that remains for County Councils operating which are unable to make use of this important tool. These further changes would roll-out coverage to all Local Authorities across Britain and ensure that all local communities and High Streets can benefit from the important role Closure Orders can play in closing dodgy shops and help to rejuvenate our High Streets.”

Christopher Bell, Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland (SCOTSS), said: “Scottish Local Authority Trading Standards services are currently unable to issue Closure Orders to clamp down on persistently offending shops. We are pleased that Scottish Government are now engaging with SCOTSS and Police Scotland on this issue to explore similar solutions to empower Scottish Trading Standards Officers in dealing with criminality.

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