Melanie Johnson MP

Trading Standards Institute Annual Conference

I'm delighted to be here today. Kim Howells spoke at your conference last year, and I know he was a strong supporter of your work. I am looking forward to building on the work that he did. So, in my first speech as Minister for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Markets, I want to look at some of the key challenges and issues facing us, and at how we tackle them. Much has already been done in the last four years - providing better consumer information, improving enforcement, and reforming the regulatory framework. I want to build on this, helping to create a dynamic economy in which both consumers and enterprise flourish.

Consumer issues are not entirely new to me. After all, we are all consumers.

And in my previous role as Economic Secretary to the Treasury, we introduced CAT standard ISAs. They are straightforward, clear and easy to understand. There should be no surprises or unforeseen features. And the charges must be fair and transparent. Through these sort of measures, we are putting consumers at the heart of our policy. Ensuring they had the information they need to make informed and sensible decisions.

So, that's me. But what about you?

The work of Trading Standards Departments up and down the country is immensely valuable. You advise consumers. You advise businesses. You enforce the law against those traders who set out to harm consumers. Your work is vital to the economic well being of your local communities - helping consumers, benefiting good businesses, and so encouraging enterprise.

I'm very conscious of the range of challenges you face. The impact on your Service of foot and mouth issues this year reminds us all of how many local responsibilities fall to you. And I understand that because of your broad range of responsibilities, you are concerned about having to deal with so many Whitehall Departments.

I want to state clearly here my commitment, and the commitment of my Department, to the Trading Standards Service. DTI leads in Whitehall on Consumer Affairs. So we lead in your interest in consumer affairs. We take this responsibility seriously.

We have established regular meetings with other Whitehall Departments who have a direct impact on your work - such as the Food Standards Agency, the OFT, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs - to make sure that we are more joined up. And to make sure that your interests are at the heart of enforcement developments.

We have demonstrated our commitment to your work through the Modernisation Fund. We are investing £30 million in total. £5 million this year, £10 million next, and £15 million in the third year.

This is a significant investment. I want to invest it in partnership with you. My officials are working with LACOTS and TSI to make sure that it is invested wisely - ultimately, for the benefit of consumers.

You helped us to develop plans for regional co-ordinators. And I want you to help us develop new ways of working on cross boundary projects. In September we will want to work up next year's plans in partnership with the trading standards service.

One of the most important ways we have been able to support you is through the DTI Scholarship scheme. Through this we have been able to provide direct financial support to trainee trading standards officers. These Scholarships have already started to make a real difference. 88 trainees have already benefited. And this has been of benefit to the whole service.

Bill Cassie in Aberdeenshire tells us that there are now two qualified trading standards officers because of our Scholarship support. And continued support means that they are able to plan for another trainee in the coming year.

I am meeting the two Aberdeenshire trainees, along with 25 others from all over Great Britain, today at 11 o'clock. I will tell them directly what I tell you here: we want to continue to support you and your work. To work in partnership to bring about continuous improvement in the Service.

All of you here are committed to an ever improving service. It is in everybody's interest that you can show just how good that service is. So I am particularly impressed with the work you and we are taking forward on national standards.

Many other areas of local authority work now have national performance standards that are underpinned by statute. It is important that trading standards work does not lose out because of this. So, in your typical "can do" way, you - and we - have got on and done.

You and my Department have agreed to develop national standards and to report on them - without any statutory big stick. I think this might be a first: working voluntarily through partnership to agree national measures of performance.

Developing standards that will demonstrate your contribution to local enterprise and economic well being. Standards that will raise your profile in your local authorities and communities. And standards that will bring greater consistency nationally to the service that you provide. So that all consumers get the best, and enterprise is encouraged to thrive.

I am pleased to announce that we will be launching pilots for the national standards next month. There will be pilots in different types of authorities. In England, Scotland and Wales. They will run during August and September. Not ideal months. The timescale has been pushed back because of foot and mouth work. So I am grateful that you have been willing to pilot in this period.

We will give as much support as possible through the project team in DTI and financial help for the pilots from the Modernisation Fund. And we will support initiatives which complement the development of standards and the spreading of good practice.

For example we will provide some help from the Modernisation Fund towards the good practice guides which the Midlands Co-ordinating Group are developing. These aim to help authorities assess their current performance and set goals for future improvements.

The standards will highlight your role in your local economies. You are working with local businesses and consumers to bring about enterprising local economies. Just as a football match needs a referee, so you play a vital role in ensuring that competition in your local economies is fair. That the players play by the rules. This is crucial for enterprise to flourish.

And enterprise is at the heart of this Government's agenda. We want to create an environment that allows business to prosper - building an economy based on skill, talent, education and the application of technology. Not based on poor standards or on ripping-off consumers.

Consumers are fundamental to enterprise. Business needs consumers. Demanding, confident consumers who encourage higher standards and innovation.

And business needs effective enforcement of the law, to put the rogues who compete unfairly out of business. By protecting consumers, we encourage good business.

So, what do consumers need to participate in an enterprising economy?

Above all, they need to be kitted out to make good decisions. To be able to take charge of their consumer choices, without fearing that it will all go horribly wrong.

So they need good information. Information which is clear, which lets them make comparisons, and which helps them make sensible choices. Information which alerts them to the potential safety risks of products. Information which makes them confident of their rights. And information on where to go for advice if they are uncertain, or if things do go wrong.

We are investing £25 million on this this year. Funding new Consumer Support Networks. Piloting telephone helplines on debt and consumer advice. Developing the Consumer Gateway. Setting up new Consumer Councils for energy and the Post Office. Supporting Citizens' Advice Bureaux. Developing a Home Safety Network and working to improve consumer safety.

Consumer Support Networks are a big step forward. Joining up the services of Trading Standards and advice agencies, to meet the needs of today's consumers. Raising the quality of advice and spreading best practice. And ensuring that consumers get the help and information they need, when they need it, regardless of which body in the Network they contact. A one stop shop that passes the consumer quickly and seamlessly to the best agency to help them.

For example, in Southend-on-Sea the CSN has linked up with the police. So consumers who go to the police advice surgeries in neighbourhood housing offices now have direct access to help from the Citizens' Advice Bureau or the Trading Standards Department. Joining up services for the benefit of consumers.

Over one hundred and fifty CSNs are currently developing across Britain. And new local partnerships are being forged, extending out to Chambers of Commerce, Age Concern, the police, local solicitors and other organisations.

In Bournemouth and Poole, consumers who have problems with doorstep sellers of gas and electricity are benefiting from a link between Trading Standards and Energywatch. The link is a direct result of their co-operation in the CSN. It means that swift action can be taken against illegal practices, which often target the elderly.

And I have heard today that Essex looks like being the first area to complete the start-up phase and apply for full CSN status. They have an impressive line-up - Trading Standards, Citizens' Advice Bureaux, Essex Enterprise, the Chamber of Commerce, 2 local shopping centre managers, libraries, job centres, Age Concern, Help the Aged - the list goes on. I am impressed at the way this is coming together. And I am delighted that business has embraced the development, offering to sponsor local projects that the CSN wants to get started.

All of this is a good start. And I am really pleased at the enthusiasm that Trading Standards Departments and advice agencies have shown for CSNs. But there is some way to go. We need to work together to keep up the momentum. Building on the foundations we have laid, so that the Networks deliver real results for all consumers.

That consumers get the right information is probably more important today than ever before. The pace of change, and especially technological change, has never been greater.

The growth of internet shopping. The introduction of digital television and broadband technology. These are just some of the issues facing all of us across the economy which have an impact on consumers.

They bring enormous opportunities. But the pace of change can also raise consumer fears. And it certainly makes it crucial that consumers have the information they need to make informed decisions about what they buy and who they buy it from.

We have already made progress on this with digital televisions. Working with the industry, we announced in March that a Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) logo would be clearly visible on all digital televisions in retailers.

We were concerned that consumers were being misled into buying televisions with digital features, thinking they were buying digital televisions which are capable of receiving all new digital channels without the need for a set top box.

So we acted. Working in partnership with business to give consumers the information they need to make good decisions. Helping the market to take off.

And it was consumers who created the pressure for secure internet transactions that they could trust. Both we and the industry responded - recognising that consumer confidence was crucial for success.

These are just two examples of the sort of challenge we face. But they show that enterprise and consumers go hand in hand. Consumers who know what's what are a spur for business and encourage enterprise to thrive. And they benefit from enterprise - having the knowledge to capitalise on the opportunities it brings.

I know that many of you are already facing up to these new consumer challenges. The Midlands Co-ordinating Group on Trading Standards (Mid COTS) project on -Protecting Consumers and the Economy in the Information Age- is a good example, and one that the DTI is pleased to provide financial support for.

The Mid COTS team are looking at electronic markets and developing new regulatory and enforcement techniques to protect consumers in these markets. And their work is also designed to help businesses who want to enter the electronic marketplace. By helping them understand their obligations and responsibilities, firms who might be nervous to enter this new world are encouraged to do so. Again, helping consumers and fostering enterprise at the same time.

And the project shows how the impact of many big economic challenges is felt locally. By consumers in their local communities. And this is where you in Trading Standards come into your own. Tackling the big issues, on the ground.

We want to help you in your efforts.

We are updating the legislative Framework as promised in the White Paper. We are giving you new enforcement tools. Stop Now Orders were introduced on 1 June. They give you, OFT, and, in future, other organisations such as Consumers' Association, the power to apply for injunctions against rogue traders.

They will be swift remedies against rogue traders.

But they are new. They are civil remedies, when you have expertise in the criminal courts. So we are supporting the introduction through a series of training events in September and October, covering all regions of the country. We have asked TSI to organise these, and we want you, but also your lawyers and others who need to know about these new powers, to attend them.

In all of this we - and you - will be working closely with the Office of Fair Trading. As lead enforcement authority for Stop Now Orders, their liaison role is critical. I hope that as the Orders are increasingly used, so your relationship with OFT will develop. A national/local partnership to clamp down on the rogues, leaving enterprise to the honestly enterprising.

This Government was elected to deliver. Our manifesto commits us to action against rogue traders. Watch this space!

And to support all of this, we are investing in your future.

I spoke earlier of our £30 million Modernisation Fund. This will raise the standards of consumer protection at local level. Raising Trading Standards' capabilities; ensuring effective enforcement; providing better information and advice to consumers and business; and promoting consumer safety.

On the safety side of things, working with ROSPA we are inviting applications under the Modernisation Fund for local consumer safety initiatives. Bids must be submitted by the end of this month, and we hope to announce a further 10-12 projects after the Summer. This week is Child Safety Week - a reminder to us all of the dangers to children in particular of accidents in the home. The Modernisation Fund will support the good work that Trading Standards does in this field, from keeping dangerous products off the market, to practical home safety initiatives. And it will encourage better links with other local government agencies and the voluntary sector.

Back in January, Kim announced that this year we would be using the Modernisation Fund to finance projects to improve regional co-ordination and cross boundary enforcement by Trading Standards Departments. Ensuring that you are better able to join up and pool skills, information and scarce resources. Ensuring that rogues cannot escape punishment by moving from one local authority area to another.

There has been a great deal of interest in regional co-ordination and we were very encouraged by the strength and enthusiasm of the bids for funding. They will ensure a stronger network of regional co-ordination.

I am pleased to announce that we are supporting all bids in this category which came from regional groups - representing all the authorities from John O'Groats to Lands End - and that funding will be available across the board for two years.

I am also pleased to announce that we will be supporting eight more cross boundary enforcement projects this year. In all we will have thirteen projects up and running and I look forward to hearing the outcomes of all of these.

Let me give you a flavour of what we're supporting.

Disguised business sales in Yorkshire and Humberside. A project to target dishonest traders who sell so called "bargains" through pretend "private" classified advertisements. It fits in with the project based approach to enforcement which we are hoping to encourage through the work we are doing on national standards.

In the Tees Valley, a project focusing on the rogue garage trade. Aiming to implement a Good Trader endorsement scheme. Last year we helped to put garages on their toes through the car servicing project co-ordinated from Dundee. I gather that today the project's motor vehicle testing unit is making an impact in the exhibition hall. Suffolk Trading Standards have linked up with other authorities and agencies in various parts of the UK, in an ambitious project to develop best practice to combat the importation of non-compliant consumer goods. The authorities involved will be Suffolk, Southampton, Kent, Trafford, Liverpool, Sefton, Hillingdon, and Renfrewshire. Working alongside Customs and Excise, Police and Environmental Health. I look forward to seeing the results later this year.

The 'Crossing the Boundaries' group covering the counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire are establishing a closer relationship with the utilities consumer and regulatory groups. Working to improve consumer education, facilitate the resolution of complaints and develop a protocol of best practice. Encouraging fair trading and consumer confidence in an area where we would like to see the consumer getting the best out of the choices on offer, confident that they are not being misled or being taken for a ride.

In Northern Counties we are helping to establish a regional specialist internet crime support unit and forensic computer laboratory. Quite a mouthful! But I understand this will be a centre of excellence dedicated to tackling internet fraud. And I welcome this.

And in Tayside and Fife, a project that will strike a timely note with all of us, because it focuses on the new Stop Now orders. Looking at issues of training for officers and co-ordinating action on Stop Now assurances and orders. I very much hope the lessons can be shared.

There are other approaches too. Educating consumers to recognise scams. In the North East bogus homeworking and doorstep selling. In South West London, tackling social exclusion and vulnerability by educating consumers.

There were a number of bids focused on advice and education to consumers. I'm sorry we cannot support them all. But we would like to see more emphasis on education of both businesses and consumers - this is a strong theme developing in the national standards project. I hope the North East and the South West London group will share their successes with us all.

All these projects will add to the pool of experience building up from those already underway. Doorstep selling and itinerant trader scams in the South East and Eastern Regions. And here in South Wales, the Gwent project on tackling social exclusion and indebtedness.

The Gwent project is an excellent example of Trading Standards working locally to combat a national problem - loan sharks who prey on the vulnerable and plunge them into debt. Debt is a major factor in social exclusion. Our manifesto commits us to tackling loan sharks. I am already looking at how we will take this forward.

And attacking social exclusion remains a priority for us. The most vulnerable members of society are the most likely to be ripped-off by unscrupulous traders and targeted by loan sharks.

The Gwent project has attacked this by looking at innovative ways of identifying and tackling problems of loan sharks including use of the media, mailshots and posters. They are also working with the Welsh Consumer Council and Citizens Advice Bureaux in investigating the causes of indebtedness and the accessibility to help such as advice and debt counselling.

The Gwent project is a credit to Steve Delahaye, who masterminded it and is skillfully steering it through now.

We have in front of us some big challenges. A lot of change. But a lot of opportunities too to build on our recent successes. I look forward to working with you on a shared agenda. Together we can really make a difference for consumers.

Other speeches by Melanie Johnson MP

• Overindebtedness Fact or Fiction? (27/11/02)
• Speech to the Insolvency Lawyers' Association (13/11/02)
• Enterprise Act (12/11/02)
• RoSPA National Congress on Home Safety Partnerships (11/11/02)
• Financial Education and Personal Debt: The Role of the State, the Market and the Individual (05/11/02)
• A Single Capital Market in Europe: Challenges for Global Companies (10/10/02)
• A Wake-up Call to Business (12/06/02)
• Competition and Enterprise (20/03/02)
• LACOTS 'Year Ahead' Conference (24/01/02)
• Brands and the Innovation Imperative: Keynote Address to the Brands Conference 2001 (30/10/01)
• Brands and the Innovation Imperative: Keynote Address to the Brands Conference 2001 (30/10/01)

(the following are available from the archive)
• The 2001 INSOL Congress (18/07/01)
• AGM of the Alliance Against Counterfeiting and Piracy (11/07/01)
• Launch of "Friends of the National Consumer Council" (27/06/01)
• RoSPA National Home Safety Congress (12/11/01)
• Joint Industry "Copyright and Visual Impairment" Guidelines (31/10/01)
• Brands and the Innovation Imperative - keynote address (30/10/01)
• The Retail Motor Industry Federation Annual Dinner (23/10/01)
• Launch of Confident Consumer (09/10/01)
• The Europe 21 Conference (26/09/01)