- Media & Campaigns
- Press releases
- 2009
- November 2009
- Extra funds for primary school places 'valuable'
- LGA to cut or freeze every member’s subs next year
- Gold buying companies fleecing unsuspecting consumers, councils warn
- Air pollution must be tackled to stop eu fines and thousands of premature deaths
- Plans to speed up home insulation for millions unveiled by councils
- LGA response to local government finance settlement
- New Local Innovation Awards Scheme shortlist
- Councils need the freedom to allow them to deliver better for less
- Parking tickets keep people safe and traffic moving - councils
- Improvement agenda set for Ofsted
- Ten finalists taking part in the local government challenge announced
- Bonfire of bureaucracy could save taxpayers £4.5 billion
- Councils helping flood hit areas
- Cut red tape for councils to fund personal care at home
- Flood and Water Management Bill - councils respond
- Councils improve recruitment and staff development opportunities
- Quangos face tough questions on acccountability and value for money - LGA
- Stop children using sunbeds to cut cancer risk to teenagers, say council
- Children's potential being wasted - response to unemployment figures
- Challenges remain in social work retention and recruitment
- No extremist threat should be ignored - council leaders
- Modern day pedlars force call for law change
- LGA response to council tax survey
- Recycling rates rise but urgent action still needed
- Bus fares scheme must be fully funded - councils
- Use RIPA for loan sharks, not littering - LGA
- Give taxpayers' more say over spending in their area
- Threat of prosecution will make school admission system "as fair as possible"
Modern day pedlars force call for law change
LGA press release - 6 November 2009
Ahead of the expected launch tomorrow of a consultation on street traders and pedlars by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Cllr Les Lawrence, Chairman of the Local Government Association Safer Communities Board, said:
“During these tough times and in the run up to Christmas, there is a fear that more people will be tempted to turn to pedlars hoping to bag a bargain. But the view of all street traders as harmless rogue Del Boy types should be long gone.
“Pedlars can be here today but gone tomorrow, which makes it hard to stop them from selling faulty or unsafe products, while consumers have little chance of getting their money back for substandard goods.
“Their products are often poor in quality and even dangerous. Councils report that they operate in packs, sometimes linked to local criminal gangs, obstructing passers by and using intimidating and threatening behaviour.
“Like any traders, there are good and bad pedlars, however the rules that govern the way they operate are out of step with consumer protection law generally and in desperate need of updating. Prosecution of pedlars caught breaking the existing law can be costly and difficult, while the fines are often paltry.
“Councils are reporting that this is a problem across the country, so much so that a number of local authorities have previously 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. The LGA is calling on the government to reform the law through national legislation to protect the public and small businesses across the country.”
ENDS
Author: LGA Media Team
Contact: Tel 020 7664 3333