NewsGovernment U-turn on plans to repeal animal welfare codes Controversial plans to repeal statutory farm animal welfare codes and introduce industry-led guidance have been scrapped by the government. While the law and enforcement of animal welfare regulations were untouched, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ (Defra) proposals involved revoking the statutory code for poultry welfare on 27 April, and introducing new welfare guidance produced by the British Poultry Council (BPC). The government’s decision to reverse the plans was announced by Defra on 7 April. Recent media attention has focused on the proposals, following a Freedom of Information request by The Guardian. Speculation over what new guidance would include, and fears of the livestock industry moving towards self-regulation – with accompanying worries of reduced standards – were expressed. John Reed, chairman of the BPC, said: ‘We’re disappointed by the change of policy at Defra. What this means now is that we, along with other livestock sectors, will be left with outdated welfare guidance.’ The BPC had been involved since 2012, following the recommendation from the Animal Health and Welfare Board for England and the Macdonald Task Force that government should consider moving towards industry-led guidance. The number of outdated statutory welfare codes in need of updates lay behind the recommendations, according to the BPC. Reed also said: ‘By revoking its decision, Defra is walking away from an opportunity to ensure welfare guidance is kept up to date with the latest research using industry expertise.’ The BPC had previously outlined its plans to update the duck and turkey codes in 2017, following the poultry code change. Andrew Tyler, director of Animal Aid, said: ‘We are pleased to hear that sustained campaigning pressure has compelled Defra to reverse its decision and retain the statutory element of the codes.’ Defra will meet industry representatives to consider the right approach towards the non-statutory guidance drafted by industry alongside the statutory codes. Warnings over scam Facebook events A string of events named ‘Summer Safari WaterPark 2016’ on Facebook have attracted questions over their legitimacy after national media attention. Considered a potential scam, the events advertised as taking place around the UK in summer 2016 have now been removed from Facebook. Liverpool City Council said: ‘We have not received an application for a licence for this event. We would advise people not to provide personal details and certainly not to send any money for an event that currently has no tangible location or dates.’ According to Paul Thompson, CTSI lead officer for e-crime, a usual sign of a scam is the requirement to enter personal information – but this was not the case for the Summer Safari WaterPark 2016 pages. ‘It’s a strange one. The only piece of data they would have is the Facebook account. It may be a scam, or it may be collecting information from a marketing point of view. ‘Even if it is for genuine marketing purposes, the data may be shared and could lead to harassment and targeted promotions to individuals. ‘However, the real risk is data-mining for ID theft. The scam requires users to enter their name, email, telephone number and other personal information. These details can then be cross-referenced with other databases of information. Before long, they can build up an online ID and commit ID theft.’ Another recent series of fake Facebook events – based on the BBC One show Total Wipeout – could be classed as data-mining, according to Thompson. ‘Even if trading standard officers wanted to investigate issues such as these on Facebook, we would not be able to. All we have access to is the basic subscriber information,’ he says. Thompson also links this to a larger debate about access to online information for the purposes of consumer protection. Other scams under the media spotlight include a phishing email that includes the recipient’s home address; members of the BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours consumer programme team received the scam email claiming they owed money. Sunbed survey reveals operators are failing to protect children Southwark Council has found that more than 70 per cent of local sunbed operators fail to conduct ID checks. A 17 year-old trading standards test purchaser visited all local businesses where UV sunbeds can be accessed on demand, as part of the council’s operation to monitor compliance. Of the 15 operators visited, only four turned away the underage test purchaser. The vast majority failed to carry out any ID checks, despite the law prohibiting under-18s from accessing UV sunbeds. Michael Situ, cabinet member for communities and safety, said: ‘These results are hugely disappointing. The law is there to protect our young people, and operators must ensure they are checking users are old enough to use their equipment. ‘Our licensing and trading standards teams will now be working with these businesses to ensure procedures are tightened before further checks are carried out.’ Shopkeeper pleads guilty to selling illegal tobacco A Tring shopkeeper has admitted selling illegal tobacco, following an operation by Hertfordshire Trading Standards. Haydar Guzel, 31, of Edmonton, pleaded guilty to eight charges related to possessing tobacco products intended for supply, which did not have the required written warning in English or any pictorial warning. Guzel was fined £1,600 and ordered to pay costs and victim surcharge of almost £3,000, at St Albans Magistrates’ Court on 13 April. The shopkeeper was warned for similar non-compliance in April 2015 and received a letter of warning from trading standards, yet officers visiting the premises in August last year found a quantity of illegal tobacco products, including 820 cigarettes. Guy Pratt, assistant director of community protection, said: ‘Alongside other agencies, we will continue to tackle the supply of illegal tobacco and support the vast majority of law- abiding businesses to ensure they are not put at a disadvantage for selling tobacco products legally.’ Queen’s award for truecall Call blocker technology company trueCall has been given a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the Innovation category, recognising the positive impact it has had on many peoples’ lives. The Queen’s Awards are considered to be the UK’s highest accolade for business success. They are awarded annually by the Queen on the Prime Minister’s recommendation, and are only given for the highest levels of excellence and outstanding business achievement. Steve Smith, one of the creators of trueCall, said: ‘The Queen’s Award is in recognition of the work we have done with 150 local authorities, charities and police forces all around the country to protect older people from nuisance calls. ‘We have achieved fantastic results, protecting some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.’ There are 10,000+ complaints made about nuisance calls every month, but less than two per cent of people report them, despite research showing that 58 per cent of people feel discouraged from answering calls and 29 per cent are intimidated by them. The Queen has invited trueCall’s directors to a reception at Buckingham Palace in July. From left: trueCall’s Isaac Acheampong, Steve Smith and Amit Kumar rawpixel.com / ShutterStock monticello / ShutterStock