LGA attacks reforms to street trading rules, warns of "free-for-all"
The Local Government Association has criticised “unnecessary” Government plans to reform local street trading rules, warning that they could lead to an increase in door-to-door cold callers and put the public at greater risk of falling victim to rogue traders.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills launched a consultation in November last year on reforms to the laws on pedlary and street trading, including the scrapping of the Pedlars Act 1871 - which ministers described as "archaic".
The main change would see the introduction of a new definition of pedlary for the purposes of the pedlar exemption from the street trading regime in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The LGA claimed that the changes risked jeopardising the progress councils had made in tackling cold callers and the nuisance that they cause.
It said decisions over whether to allow street traders to set up should be down to councils, and councillors, “who understand their neighbourhood and are in daily contact with residents and local businesses”.
The Association also warned of a street trade “free-for-all” that risked driving customers away from the high street.
Cllr Mehboob Khan, Chairman of the LGA’s Safer and Stronger Communities Board, said: “Far from encouraging the growth of our high streets, removing the ability of residents, businesses and local authorities to have a say on where street traders can set up threatens to undermine the prosperity of high street shops.
“Residents tell us they are fed up with having a stream of cold callers knocking on their door who intrude on their home life. These callers need to be managed under one consistent framework which can then be locally applied.
“The work local authorities do to regulate street trading protects vulnerable people from rogue traders and rip-off merchants, but also ensures other businesses can prosper too.”
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills consultation can be viewed here.