SPOTLIGHT

A zero sum game?

The number of SEND tribunal cases is rising and the proportion of appeals ‘lost’ by local authorities is at a record high. Lottie Winson talks to education lawyers to understand the reasons why, and sets out the results of Local Government Lawyer’s exclusive survey.

New crackdown on rogue traders planned

Local authorities could be given new powers to get tough on illegal street trading, following the publication of a consultation paper by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

The joint consultation paper, Street trading and pedlary laws: A joint consultation on modernising Street Trading and Pedlar Legislation, and on draft guidance, is also to look at ways of making the existing regime more proportionate and effective.

This would involve updating the certification scheme operated under the Pedlars Act 1871 and modernising the legal definition of pedlars, itinerant traders who operate by moving around to customers carrying goods.

The UK and Scottish governments will also consider transferring responsibility for issuing certificates from the police to local authorities and, if this is done, what options are available for maintaining the current position where a certificate authorises trading across the country.

The chairman of the Local Government Association’s Safer Communities Board, Cllr Les Lawrence, said councils report pedlars operating in packs, sometimes linked to local criminal gangs, obstructing passers-by and using intimidating and threatening behaviour.

The problem is exacerbated during tough times and in the run up to Christmas, as there is a fear more people will be tempted to turn to pedlars hoping to “bag a bargain”, he said. “But the view of all street traders as harmless rogue Del Boy types should be long gone.”

“The rules that govern the way they operate are out of step with consumer protection law generally and in desperate need of updating,” Lawrence said. “Prosecution of pedlars caught breaking the existing law can be costly and difficult, while the fines are often paltry.”

According to Lawrence, councils are reporting pedlar trading problems “across the country” to the point where a number of local authorities have sought their own private bills from Parliament to change the way pedlars are regulated.

“The scale of this problem is such that there must be new national legislation to give councils in all areas the power to regulate pedlars properly, rather than relying on councils promoting numerous local bills,” he said.

The response to the consultation from both governments will be published in 2010.