CTSI Conference 2016 - Plenary 2 In this feature enforcement education changing marketplace CONFERENCE 2016 Raising standards There may be no silver bullet solution, but communicating successes, collaborating and maintaining education will raise our professions standards. Say goodbye to working in isolation and think big and bold. Maeve Sinnott reports G enuinely inspiring stuff that gains nowhere near enough recognition is how Matt Allwright consumer champion and plenary facilitator described trading standards during the second plenary at CTSI Conference in June. Its all about making things better. And making things better within the profession was the topic of the plenary. Allwright, with savvy chat-show air, brought the panel experts on stage one by one to quiz them about how the sector can raise its standards against the current tide of different challenges. A plenary aim was established: not to x the world, or the sector, or all the challenges but for the audience to walk away with a few tangible, practical solutions; the sort that ofcers might stick on a Post-It note on their desk. Communicate, communicate, communicate Matt Allwright led the session with savvy flair Panel members Facilitator: Matt Allwright, television presenter and consumer journalist Panellists: Dave Holland, head of Shared Regulatory Services covering Bridgend, Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan Lord Jamie Lindsay, chair of the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) Carol Brady, chair of CTSI Board and independent chair of the claims management regulation Dave Holland, head of Shared Regulatory Services an review umbrella service, covering three councils in South Wales, Paul Baxter, chief executive that includes trading standards, environmental health of the National Federation of and licensing was up rst. Though barely one year old, Retail Newsagents the collaborative service has resources that many in the country can only dream of almost 211 ofcers, to cover around 700,000 people. The reason Ive achieved this is because I have managed to convey to the elected representatives in those councils the importance of what we do that it impacts on everybodys life, said Holland. The big issue is the thick, capital R how Relevant are you to your local authority? Do they understand the importance of your role, from safeguarding vulnerable adults to monitoring the marketplace? If you cant engage with the elected members like that, then you are heading down towards a smaller and smaller resource. Communication was a theme that ran throughout the plenary. Carol Brady, chair of CTSI Board, said: Publicising everything that you do, whether that is proactive work or enforcement work, is so important. It makes people stop and think helps them realise there is help out there, and shows businesses that its not worth getting it wrong. It is all about publicising so that youre seen either as a credible deterrent or a proactive support. Lord Jamie Lindsay, chair of the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), spoke about the importance of trading standards communicating the benets of accreditation to businesses. Send a clear signal that if companies, businesses, food traders the Were whole spectrum of business services commit to a relevant accredited taking a certication, then not only will their business improve, but their bow and consumers and users will be more condent and trusting, he said. arrow to a gunfight The regulator would then be free to focus on those who do not have Dave Holland accredited certication, where the risk is demonstrably greater. To achieve greater levels of accreditation which, Lindsay implied, could free up resources, as well as provide a helpful mapping of businesses for monitoring the sector should work towards a better understanding of what UKAS accreditation does for the trading standards body. Keep education a priority Lord Jamie Lindsay championed greater accreditation The importance of communication may have underpinned the plenary, but the big-picture balancing act between education and enforcement took centre stage. Brady said: With the limited resources that most departments face now, it is a balance: do we undertake the preventative work or do we hit the rogues? Focusing on priorities, sometimes education will fall off the track. One of my concerns and worries around some of the cuts and derogation of services is that we focus very much on the enforcement side, and forget that there is a consumer at the end of this. While Brady discussed the necessity of regulation for the minority of businesses that deliberately dont trade fairly, she expressed the importance of consumer empowerment. Its about how we can get consumers to say this isnt good enough, we want something better, we want to drive better standards about how we get that ground force, and nd that balance between consumer empowerment and enforcement. Paul Baxter, chief executive of the National Federation of Retail Newsagents, spoke on behalf of the its 15,000 members, 95 per cent of whom run convenience stores. He painted a grim picture: Counterfeit products are ooding our stores today, and there is massive underreporting of the effect that this has. We recently ran a survey in Birmingham; on one street, there was one legitimate retailer, yet nine places selling tobacco. We know that a lot of enforcement does go on and there have been some great recent success stories but they are just drops in the ocean of the actual amount of crime that goes on all the time. When legitimate traders see illicit activity happening, and there seems to be no punishment or follow through, it lessens their threshold to resist involvement and that threshold does seem to be moving. However, when Allwright probed to see if enforcement was, in fact, the main thing the federations members wanted from trading standards, Baxter made a call for increased education. We support enforcement, and we want to see rogue traders prosecuted. But the majority of retailers are law-abiding citizens, and try hard to comply with legislation, he said. Unfortunately, a lot of people dont understand all the legislation. Its complex and its burdensome. We want education and support. We want advice and help. You cant get that from councils these days. There isnt the support structure. There are lots of cases where trading standards ofcers will support and offer advice we know that; but the pressure we see them under means its not the same relationship any more. Carol Brady called on services not to work in isolation Umbrella services a solution for some? Paul Baxter saw opportunities ahead It wasnt all doom and gloom, however. Hollands positivity and belief in the future growth and impact of the umbrella service he leads attracted interest from the delegate audience. We have ofcers whose entire focus is to work with business to resolve issues, to get that equitable balance in the marketplace, he said. I think the service has the potential to develop depth and expertise. We are starting to have conversations we have wanted to have with people for three, four, ve years, but didnt have the capacity. The way weve congured our service now gives us that capacity. When asked by a delegate, Baxter conrmed that his federation would have condence in working with an umbrella service. The challenge we have is that, in every borough, we effectively have to iron out the differences between what one authority does differently from the other. Post-it notes So what were the takeaways the golden keys, as one delegate put it to raising standards? The crucial role of communication, the importance of understanding the context and the necessary focus to ensure education doesnt fall behind were all vital elements. Not working in isolation, said Brady. Finding out whos got the best tools and the best equipment to tackle the issues, whether that be consumer education or the enforcement side. Baxter emphasised the need to nd out how we can work together, and Lindsay echoed this: There are challenges to be faced in the trading standards universe but I also think there are big opportunities to work more closely together to address those challenges. And challenges do lie ahead. The marketplace is changing, said Holland. If you go back 20 years, all of our vendors were on the high street and visible. The consumer did not become visible until they stepped out of their front door. Now the marketplace has turned upside down. Sellers have a perfect birds eye view of consumers in their own homes. Sometimes, we are taking a bow and arrow to a gunght. We are not as clever as some of the best scammers, and what we need is a bloody big tank. All were doing is rening our bow and arrow. We need to think differently about how we challenge a new marketplace. But with challenge, comes opportunity for collaborations, conversations and new ways of working. New chances as Allwright put it proudly to improve the work that we collaboratively and cooperatively do together. Credits Maeve Sinnott is a junior reporter for TS Today. Images: Sam Atkins To share this page, click on in the toolbar You might also like Conference coverage 2015