In da house!

I attend my first event as TSI chief executive in the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday.  It was an All Party Parliamentary Group organised by the Citizens Advice.  These are reasonably informal meetings designed to help MPs and other understand the background to some of the key issues of the day.  Not only was this one attended by MPs but also representatives of business and consumer groups.  The focus of this meeting was the proposed changes to consumer rights and what that might mean.  Colleagues from BIS, CAB and Which? gave the back ground to the changes and the perspectives from their organisations perspective.  My role was to provide some context from a regulator’s point of view.

Anything that provides clarity in relation to consumer rights is to be welcomed and should help both consumers and businesses to understand their obligations.  The proposals contain a number of implications for local trading standards services.  Easing our ability to tackle cross board offences and authorisations is a must in the new landscape.  Consolidating our powers in a single set of powers can bring benefits as long as they are not diluted, especially with regards giving notice of entry.  Whilst the duty to give notice won’t impact on the vast majority of inspections – after all our first response to non-compliance is often to provide advice and give a period of time to correct issues – the ability to undertake unannounced visits does make businesses think twice about committing fraud.  As my old colleague Doug would remind me – “the uninspected deteriorates” (org. Dwight D Eisenhower)

Holding out for a hero!

Over the weekend I received an e-mail from Mark Ryder at Warwickshire about the Warwick Castle Half-Marathon. A group of seventy staff are running in this Sunday's race to raise funds for the Warwickshire Corporate Parents Association (don't worry I'm not going to plug every fund raising run!). 

What struck me here was that this was a group of Local Government Officers who have a responsibility for supporting vulnerable families, who are seeing their role outside the confines of the "9-5".

This made me reflect on last year's Conference and in particular the Hero Awards. I had the pleasure as Chairman of the Institute in presenting the awards and found myself inspired by them all. Particularly inspiring was the work of Cardiff fair trading officer Bas Diablos, who was recognised for his tireless work, much in his own time, to promote the work of trading standards and consumer education in the community. He, like Mark and the team In Warwickshire, sees his role as part of the community, not just providing services to them.

The work of trading standards services up and down the country are supported by, and delivered in partnership with, a wide number of partners and individuals. In these difficult times we may not be able to recognise their work financially, but there are many other ways to recognise this contribution. The Institute's Hero Awards provide such an opportunity. 

So if you know someone deserving of recognition nominate them at http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/membership/TSILocalHeroesAwards.cfm 

Good luck on Sunday Mark!

Week three and look at me!!

Don't worry, I haven't suddenly grown a massive ego – no more than I already have anyway! The title refers to the fact that today I was interviewed by TS Today editor, Sarah Juggins. It was really nice to have the chance to just chat about my background, hopes and aspirations for the Institute and profession. I won't spoil the article by revealing too much but suffice to say working together featured highly.

Elsewhere this week I have spent more time getting to understand the business's needs, attending ACTSO meetings and sitting on the M11 when it was shut yesterday – if only the Highways Agency was run by a TSO!!

In the office we have had discussions about our communications functions and what we need to deliver not only the Institute's work but the additional support we have agreed to provide to the National Trading Standards Board. Exciting times but really important that we get our messages right.

On Thursday I popped my head in on some discussions that Phil Owen (who leads for us on training and events) and his team were having with the Local Registration Services Association. Those who know me won't be surprised that I timed my popping in to coincide with lunch! We are pleased to be helping the LRSA deliver its membership services – after all it is another organisation supporting local authority members and services. Whilst talking about Phil's team it's good see the positive feedback that we've received about the Year Ahead held in early Feb – well done guys.

Have a good weekend and happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there.

De-regulation – a difficult meat to swallow?

As horsemeat contamination continues to hit the headlines I'm sure we will all face some challenging questions.  As previously blogged I attended a Heads of Service meeting earlier this week.  One of the points raised with me during main discussions, and in private, is that have we de-regulated too much.  The number of inspections and samples has fallen – partly due to falling resources and partly due to policy shifts. 

Policy makers have a balancing act to perform, minimising burdens on business against the need to have appropriate safe guards in place.  Stepping away from a focus on routine inspections to a more intelligence led approach has, in most cases, brought a bigger bang for the public buck.  Some would argue, however, that a move away from the routine has left the door ajar for greater fraud.  This is particularly relevant to the consultation on powers of entry.

Whatever your views it is important that any debate focuses on intelligence and reasoned argument, rather than sound bites, anecdotes and an unwillingness to collaborate.    We need to work together as policy makers and practitioners to ensure we manage this delictate balance act. 

Who needs a Trading Standards Officer?

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!

Time for leaders to show their stuff and match Ron’s legacy!

I had the pleasure of attending and addressing the Association of Chief Trading Standards Officers (ACTSO) meeting.    It was good to see old colleagues and hear about the continued successes of the National Trading Standards Board in overseeing  grants and activity for national enforcement matters.

Before I set out some of my thoughts about how the Institute would move forward I was able to pay tribute publicly to the work of my predecessor, Ron Gainsford.  Ron has not only left me a business in very good health but has raised the profile of the profession and Institute greatly.  The faith that central government and others have in us can be traced to Ron’s hard work.  On behalf of us all - many thanks Ron.

Going forward I see an open and collaborative Institute – one where we will be prepared to take tough decisions and stances, but where everyone should feel that they have a voice.  There is a clear reliance on each other – strong services need a strong profession which itself needs a strong Institute.  But our institute cannot thrive without the support of the profession and services.

As I listened to a debate about our joint response to the horsemeat “crisis” I was greatly heartened to hear Heads of Service who, whilst being self-reflective and critical, were up for the challenges ahead.  As the leaders of our profession in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales face the challenges before them I offer them the full support of both the Institute and myself.

Week two, Roy and where's my bonus!!!

As I come to the end of week two I'm reflecting that I am no longer the new boy.  This is not because I have miraculously got my head around all the internal systems and processes we have, but on Monday we were joined by Roy Martin.  Roy joins us as our new finance director bringing a wealth of experience.  I can see from all the spreadsheets, graphs and charts he's looking at that our finances are in good hands.

Other than running a small business and looking after members concerns it is also important to support the wide range of people we rely on.  Our lead officers, for example, provide a valuable source of expertise and I see that we've put out a press release quoting Stephanie Young (our animal health and welfare lead officer) about the need to improve the animal passport system.  The full press release is available http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/extra/news-item.cfm/newsid/1082 On a related issue our network of President (the wonderful Christine Crawley) and Vice-Presidents do an amazing job of representing the needs of the organisation and wider profession and part of my week has been working out how we can better support them.

Finally I did note with interest that Antonio Horta-Osorio, Chief Executive of the Lloyds Banking Group has been awarded a bonus of £1.5m – albeit in deferred shares.  I wonder whether the Institute's board's drive for equity and fairness in the market place extends to executive pay!!

Have a good weekend

Leon