29
Trading standards
Trading standards ensure businesses are aware of their
obligations to consumers and do not infringe consumer
protection laws. There are many areas of legislation that
we have a duty to enforce, some of which include
protecting children from harm, fair trading, consumer
safety and licensing/registration.
Our priorities
Trading standards legislation aims to protect consumers
while creating a fair trading environment for business.
Our current priorities are:
• Rogue traders -
protecting vulnerable residents from
unscrupulous businesses
• Age-restricted sales -
reducing anti-social behaviour
using a range of activities and actions to control the sale
of age 18-restricted goods (knives, spray paint, alcohol,
fireworks, tobacco )
• Fair trading -
tackling the most complained-about
traders in Brent so they trade fairly in the future
• Counterfeit and dangerous goods -
blocking the
trade in counterfeit goods in order to protect legitimate
businesses, protect consumers from poor quality or
unsafe goods and disrupt criminal activity
• Weights & measures -
enforcing legislation governing
the accuracy of commercial weighing and measuring
equipment and goods sold by quantity
• Dealing with complaints
received from business and
consumers about criminal breaches of Trading Standards
law which occur in Brent and Harrow.
Brent and Harrow
Our Business Regulation and Consumer Protection Unit is
part of a partnership between Harrow Council and Brent
Council. Our trading standards team adheres to national
guidelines (known as the Home Authority Principle) which
require us to place special emphasis on companies resident
in Brent or Harrow.
Significant breaches of the law are thoroughly investigated;
prosecution is only carried out when there are serious or
deliberate breaches of criminal Trading Standards law.
There are a range of alternative actions available including
Civil Injunction, cautions and advice.
Primary authority partnerships
Regardless of its size, a business operating across council
boundaries can form a primary authority partnership with
a single local authority in relation to regulatory compliance.
Email: trading
Tel: 020 8937 5555
Fax: 020 8937 5544
Street trading
Street trading within Brent is controlled by the London Local
Authorities Act 1990 and Amendments. To trade on the
street or any other area that is not enclosed and is within
seven metres of a road or footway where the public has
access without payment you would require a licence.
Licences are issued for the 50 or so designated sites around
the borough and there is a waiting list for persons wanting
to trade at these sites.
A street trading licence is also required for persons wishing
to display goods on the forecourt and pavement cafés.
Licence summary
Only persons licensed by Brent Council's Health Safety and
Licensing Section may trade from the street.
A street includes any road, footway or other area that is
within seven metres of a road or footway and is not enclosed
and to which the public have access without payment.
Street trading means the selling, exposing for sale or offering
for sale of any article (including a living thing) or the supplying
or offering to supply any service in a street for gain or reward.
Application evaluation process
Application for a licence must be made to Brent Council's
Safer Streets Department with the application fee.
Two colour passport-sized photographs taken within the last
six months, a proof of current address and a copy of your
public liability insurance must also be submitted. Only one
photograph in jpeg format is required for online applications.
Plans and attached documents submitted by the applicant
should be clear and legible in all material respects, capable
of being read, reproduced in written form and used for
subsequent reference by our inspectors and responsible
authorities. Where this is not the case the applicant / agent
will be contacted to resubmit the plans.
In addition to the application fee there is a daily charge
for the licence allowing you to trade. This charge is based
on the area you occupy and is payable monthly, one month
in advance.
Email:
Tel: 020 8937 5359
Fax: 020 8937 5357
