Labour Conference 2026 Briefing

Posted 30/09/26

Labour held its annual Conference this week in a sunny, yet very windy, Liverpool, with a number of major policy announcements and a chance to showcase the party's leader and our new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham. CTSI's Policy Team was there throughout the week, taking part in fringe events, meeting parliamentarians and speaking to stakeholders from across the UK and a wide range of sectors. Here is what we learnt.

Things Can Only Get Faster

The strongest impression from the week was of a Government that wants to be seen to be moving quickly. There is broad agreement within Labour that Andy Burnham is working at pace and has no wish to repeat the tempo of his predecessor, Keir Starmer. This was clear even in the Conference guide, where Deputy Leader Lucy Powell promised to go "further and faster to deliver the change we promised".

The Prime Minister has already set out to show that intent. He opened No.10 North in his first week and made ending rough sleeping his first instruction in Downing Street. He has also committed to a National Care Service and announced significant devolution and electoral changes. Conversations across the week suggested the Government is keen to secure smaller, visible wins over the coming months rather than waiting for a handful of large set-piece reforms. For CTSI, this is an opening to put forward practical, deliverable asks for the profession that can be taken forward quickly.

Key announcements for consumers and business

Housing and ‘Cowboy Builders’

Housing produced the week's biggest consumer announcements. Housing Secretary Angela Rayner confirmed that estate, letting and managing agents will, for the first time, be independently regulated. Agents will need a licence and appropriate qualifications to trade, and a new regulator will set codes of practice and complaints standards, with the power to revoke licences. Leaseholders will benefit too, with new powers to cap permission and administration fees, and the Prime Minister confirmed that a Leasehold Reform Bill will be introduced before Christmas.

At a local level, councils will gain new powers to tackle negligent landlords. These include compulsory purchase of substandard private rented homes and bringing empty homes back into use. Trading Standards already plays a central role in enforcing the rules on property agents, and CTSI will be working to make sure the profession's expertise shapes the new regime from the outset.

Help with the cost of living

The cost of living was another major theme of this year’s conference. The Prime Minister highlighted the removal of VAT from domestic electricity bills and a £2 cap on single bus fares across England from January 2027. Looking further ahead, he set a goal of bringing energy costs into line with our European neighbours within ten years, supported by a new publicly owned Great British Grid. Water companies will face tougher scrutiny: the ban on public ownership will be lifted, mayors will gain new powers, and executive bonuses will be more tightly restricted.

These measures may be welcomed, but experience shows that new schemes, rebates and refunds quickly attract scammers, and Trading Standards will have an important role in helping consumers stay alert.

Safer high streets

Consumer protection and community safety went hand in hand throughout the week. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood pointed to 3,800 more officers in neighbourhoods and said that shop theft, although now falling, remains "far too high". Tackling crime on the high street will need police and Trading Standards working side by side, and the case for properly resourcing both was made repeatedly.

Closer to Europe

Finally, closer ties with the EU are firmly on Labour's agenda, and the prospect of a future manifesto commitment to rejoin came up repeatedly in conversations during the week. In the nearer term, the Prime Minister confirmed plans for a UK–EU summit to boost the economy and cut red tape for business, with more detail promised later this year. Closer alignment would have real implications for product safety and enforcement, and CTSI will be following this closely.

Revitalising the high street

CTSI's Policy and External Affairs Director, Duncan Stephenson, spoke at a fringe event hosted by the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) to launch its Stop Rogue Traders campaign. He was joined by ACS Chief Executive Ed Woodall, Melanie Onn MP, Greater Manchester Deputy Mayor Kate Green, and Our Co-op CEO Debbie Robinson.

ACS set out the scale of the problem, with 85% of its members have seen an increase in rogue stores, illicit shops are now their biggest competitor, and 31% of the public cite "dodgy shops" as a reason their high street is in decline. Duncan and other panellists agreed that responsible retailers should not have to compete with those who break the law, and that sustained, coordinated enforcement is needed to restore confidence in our high streets.

Duncan also made clear that Trading Standards is very much at the frontline, but its resources and officer numbers have halved over the last 20 years while its responsibilities have grown. The Government's £6 million investment in the High Streets Organised Crime Unit was welcomed, but seen as insufficient given the scale of a problem that CTSI's Hidden in Plain Sight report shows is nationwide.

The discussion turned to practical measures that could make a difference quickly. ACS argued that landlords should be held liable for illegal activity on their premises, although many do not know what their tenants are doing. There was also a suggestion that broader funding to support Trading Standards could be achieved through securing funding from the Vaping Excise Duty.  Melanie Onn MP made the case for removing the requirement for Trading Standards to give businesses two days' notice before a routine inspection. Panellists also noted that a Private Member's Bill on empty buildings is making its way through Parliament, which will resume it’s process once Parliament returns next month.

Other fringe events

Rebuilding Britain's high streets

A fringe hosted by LabourList and the Post Office described successful high streets as mixed-use community hubs rather than purely retail centres. Of particular interest to CTSI, the Post Office, which receives more than 10 million customer visits a week, suggested that sharing its data with Trading Standards could help identify problem businesses without significant new funding. An ACS representative added that Trading Standards resourcing is very uneven across the country. Business rates, vape shops, retail crime and antisocial behaviour were all cited as pressures. The discussion pointed to better-resourced, more visible Trading Standards and stronger intelligence-sharing as essential to high street renewal.

Consumer protection in construction

 Another fringe hosted by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) and RIBA made a strong case for mandatory licensing of building firms. They argued that the largely unregulated domestic building market leaves consumers exposed to rogue traders and undercuts reputable firms. There was broad support for bringing licensing within the Government's emerging single construction regulator, backed by competence, insurance and financial checks, a code of conduct and effective redress. Duncan reiterated CTSI’s support for licensing and highlighted the opportunity presented by the Government's review of the wider consumer protection landscape, while Citizens Advice called for better resourcing of its referral system with Trading Standards.

UKAS also noted that licensing could operate through several mechanisms, including CTSI-managed code schemes, but stressed the importance of ongoing competence. The overall message was that licensing, Approved Codes, enforcement and redress must form one coherent consumer protection system, rather than another layer of overlapping schemes.

Looking ahead

As Labour Conference comes to an end, the most encouraging takeaway for CTSI is how well the value of Trading Standards is understood across government and other sectors. Across fringe events and conversations throughout the week, panellists, parliamentarians and stakeholders recognised the pressure on the profession's resources, and many had constructive ideas for how the Government could reinvest in it.

With a Prime Minister in a hurry, a Budget expected next month and a government hungry for quick wins on growth and the high street, Trading Standards is well placed to deliver. We leave Liverpool with plenty of new contacts and a clear message to carry forward, and we will be following up with those we met to make the case for the profession in the months ahead.

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