On the way home from Solihull Tuesday I found myself listening to Radio 4 (how grown up am I!) and an expert talking about a Lancet study that found the UK was lagging behind in the health league tables. He talked about issues such as alcohol and obesity as causal factors in this but made a clear statement that we were ahead of the game in terms of smoking and he put this down to good regulation. Let us not forgot that at the heart of any good regulation are good regulators and trading standards officers up and down the country have been working hard to tackle underage sales of products for years. We also have a key role to play in tackling alcohol abuse and obesity.
I have a great deal of sympathy for Elected Members and senior officers in Local Government as they struggle to balance the books. The public may not rise up and campaign for regulators like they do for libraries but the loss of basic protections can have a much more profound impact on their lives. Tackling young people's access to age restricted products, protecting vulnerable people in their own homes, ensuring that purchases are safe, as described and provide the correct quantity – these are core fundamental rights and protections that every citizen should enjoy. It is Local Government's duty to uphold these protections for their citizens.
Who needs a Trading Standards Officer – we all do!
Yes, upholding our rights and protections is essential. But what is the role of the police in tackling young people's access to age restricted products?
ReplyDeleteSurely this is something that they are happy to prioritise.
Nigel
DeleteThanks for the comment. My experience is that whilst tackling underage access to products such as alcohol and tobacco is much more effective as a partnership effort it is often led by trading standards officers. We are the only agency with the remit of all age restricted goods and have a wider role than the police. For example the police's primary concern will be around the crime and anti-social behaviour agenda. This is obviously important for trading standards professions but equally important, given the role of local authorities, to us would be the health agenda. The question of local priorities is down to individual police forces and it depends of local circumstances. Some areas suffer much more anti-social behaviour linked to underage substance abuse than others.
Hope this helps
Leon