Strengthening community safety

In their first 18 months of operation, the Scambuster pilot teams saved consumers approximately £3million, seizing 13,760 illicit cigarettes & shutting down 165 website of suspected rogue traders13.

partners and communities to combat doorstep crime. Regular evaluation by trading

standards services shows overwhelmingly the positive impact these areas have in reducing crime and fear of crime, with an average of 72 per cent of residents saying they feel safer since the scheme was introduced14. An average of 78 per cent of

residents questioned said cold calling had gone down since the introduction of the NCCZ15. The use of signage is another means of deterring cold callers

and is often used to reinforce the message within NCCZ. Deterrence signage empowers citizens and reinforces their right to privacy in their own home. In a joint study between

Angus Council, Tayside Police, Neighbourhood Watch and led by trading standards in partnership with the Scottish Institute of Policing Research, 91 per cent of citizens surveyed felt that it should be their right to stop cold calling at their homes to sell goods or services by putting up a sign to that effect16. Trading standards services

13 Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, Press Release, 2008. 14 TSI Press Release, ‘No means No’ February 2010. 15 TSI Press Release, ‘No means No’ February 2010.

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TSI Press Release, ‘No means No’ February 2010. The institutions involved in SIPR are: the Universities of Aberdeen, Abertay, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, St Andrews, Stirling, Strathclyde, and The West of Scotland & Glasgow Caledonian University, Robert Gordon University & Napier University supported by investment from Scottish Funding Council & the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland. It was established to carry out high quality, independent research and to make evidence-based contributions to policing policy and practice.

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are at the front line of the battle to combat intellectual property crime (IPC). Local authorities have a statutory duty to enforce the criminal provisions of the trade mark and copyright law and trading standards has the skills and statutory powers to investigate these offences. IPC has a direct impact on the safety of the UK consumer while also damaging legitimate business. Not only is counterfeiting and piracy an attractive income generator for criminal networks, consumers may also be putting their lives at risk by purchasing sub-standard products and fakes. Organised crime groups have moved into IPC because it is high- profit low-risk crime. The Serious Organised Crime Agency identifies IPC as a significant threat to the UK and a potential threat to the Olympics. Consumers need to have

confidence in the goods that they purchase and in the integrity of traders. Adequately resourced

Import Surveillance Officers from Suffolk Trading Standards successfully intercepted a consignment of 4,000 potentially lethal electric hot water bottles as they arrived in the UK via Felixstowe from China. The products failed to meet the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994, while the plugs did not comply with the British Standard. Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12