News CTSI and Checkatrade on the case to end rogue trading Checkatrade.com in partnership with CTSI brought together stakeholders from across the UK at its symposium in February. Under the banner Together we are stronger, the event welcomed directors and senior managers of regulatory services, as well as senior trading standards officers, portfolio holders, councillors and other prominent consumer-protection figures. These included Kevin Byrne, Checkatrade chair and founder, Leon Livermore, chief executive of CTSI, and Paul McKay, service director for South Nottinghamshire and public protection. The symposium sought to change attitudes among public bodies and to get their buy-in to finding innovative ways to make approval schemes more inclusive and affordable for high-quality tradespeople. It also highlighted issues affecting local authority trading standards and showed the difference that working in partnership can make. More than 80 delegates listened to presentations on a wide range of themes, including: Supporting dementia patients Supporting scam victims Providing reputable care services and specialist tradespeople for home-adaptation work Supporting small and medium-sizes enterprises and start-ups Intelligence gathering consumer complaints, business data, vulnerable residents Traders following good environmental practices Modern-day slavery It was great to see so many stakeholders come together in one place with one single view, said Byrne. Combining the intelligence of tradingstandards and the 19 years of award-winning service from Checkatrade, there is before us probably the most significant opportunity this country has seen to date to protect residents from rogue traders. Livermore added: We want to work closely with businesses and individuals traders to bring them into the approval fold, and to raisetheir standards. I think Checkatrade does that very, very well and they can get the word out there, nationally, much better than public-sector bodies. The symposium was a great opportunity to share best practice and perhaps more importantly to change peoples thinking. Asking for id results in 6,000 incidents of abuse each day the National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN), only a quarter of retailers reported such incidents to police. Of those who did, 57 per cent did not receive a response, or were unsatisfied with the response they did get. Under Age Sales, USDAW and NFRN have launched a petition calling on the public to support them in campaigning for tougher sentencing powers for magistrates to use against those who commit violent crimes in store as a direct result of being asked to verify their age. NFRN chief executive Paul Baxter said: With retail-crime incidents soaring, more has to be done by the police and government. iSToCk.Com / wiLdPiXEL Almost 6,000 convenience store workers experience verbal or physical abuse every day as a result of asking customers for identification to purchase agerestricted products. According to research commissioned by Under Age Sales, the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) and Apprentice scheme is close to approval A new apprenticeship programme for a regulatory compliance officer created under the guidance of the new trailblazer scheme set up by thegovernment is in the final stage of development. The apprenticeship will last for approximately two years and lead to a level 4 qualification, which is equivalent to a foundation degree. It will be generic in the first year, but is flexible enough to include legal requirements in whichever setting the apprentice is based. Rob Taylour, head of Derbyshire Trading Standards and chair of the Regulatory Compliance Officer Trailblazer Apprenticeship Steering Group, said: I see the apprenticeship scheme as an opportunity to attract people into the profession, equip them with an understanding ofthe need for regulation, and provide them with the opportunity to be in a strong position to develop their careers. The proposed assessment plan for the scheme which is the final stage in setting up an apprenticeship has been submitted to the Skills Funding Agency, and the steering group is awaiting feedback. Taylour hopes to have it up and running by the summer. We are nowtalking to training providers and assessment organisations abouthow the theory of the scheme can be turned into a reality, he said. It is envisaged that trading standards, environmental health andother professional officers will be contracted to deliver the assessments required. For more information, email Rob Taylour. new levy can be used to fund apprenticeships An employer who pays more than 3m per year in salaries will now be taxed 0.5 per cent of their wage bill. The money will be held in a digital account by HM Revenue and Customs, and can only be used to meet the costs of training apprentices. If the funds are not used by the employer within a two-year period, the government can reclaim the money. Fake trading standards officer scam warning Devon and Somerset Trading Standards Service has warned that fraudsters are knocking on peoples doors and advising residents that they can get a refund and compensation for poor work carried out on their home. For the claim to proceed, the resident is told by the fake officer that they must pay 1,000 into a specific bank account, the details of which are provided by the conmen. weight-loss device claims turn out to be a big fat lie Warwickshire Trading Standards has prosecuted a trader whose business was turning over 400,000 a year renting out ultrasonic liposuction devices. Aaron William Stuart OBrian Nickols pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court in April to placing adverts that misled consumers, contrary to the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. Nickols bought 400 devices from a Chinese manufacturer on eBay, at a cost of 170 each, before renting them out for 199 per month to consumers across the UK. Nickols claimed that the ultrasonic liposuction device would enable the user to lose weight without dieting, exercise or surgery. In reality, the claims made were false and misleading, and there was no scientific evidence to back them up. In addition, trading standards officers found that the devices had not been safety checked when they were imported and did not meet electrical safety standards. Sentencing was adjourned until the week beginning 15 May.