Liverpool Council agrees to review trading standards structure

Posted 05/05/15

Following a legal challenge posed by a Liverpool resident, council employee and Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) member, Liverpool Council has agreed to review how its local trading standards service is structured.

On 5 May, the council agreed to review its decision to reduce its trading standards service from 19 staff to four at a permission hearing at Manchester High Court. The legal challenge was presented in September 2014 in relation to cuts made to the trading standards service in Liverpool. CTSI chief executive Leon Livermore provided an expert witness statement to aid the court.

"The decision by Liverpool Council to review how its trading standards service is structured and then publish it on the council website is great news," said Livermore."Not only does this have implications for Liverpool City Council, it will also provide clarity for other local authorities reviewing their trading standards services.

"This process has resulted in positive, clear guidance that will benefit all local authorities – and their communities - as the next round of budget cuts start kicking in. We are full of sympathy for Liverpool Council, and the many other local authorities who are in the same boat of having to make desperately difficult choices.

"It is the role of the institute to advise local government on these issues and we are pleased to have a constructive role in this process.

"The deep cuts to trading standards services over the last five years, has left their ability to protect citizens and honest business dangerously compromised in many parts of the country."

Liverpool Council has three months to review funding mechanisms for trading standards. Once the review is complete, it has seven days to post the outcome on its website. Click to view a copy of the consent order.

Notes for Editors:

For further information or to arrange an interview please contact the CTSI press office on 01268 582240 or Ivy Hughes on 07730143839 or contact [email protected]

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