When you hear those ice cream van chimes and rush out to buy their wares have you ever considered whether they have a licence from the local authority? Under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 a street trader must be licensed. But is an ice cream van on a regular route a roundsman or a street trader? The case against the perhaps appropriately named British Bulldog Ice Cream was for trading with a fleet of several vans without being authorised by the Brighton and Hove Council. Having been convicted by the District Judge, the case went to appeal at the Queen's Bench Divisional Court. It was agreed
that the services provided by a roundsman are not street trading: but he delivers ordered goods to customers. Selling ice cream does not fall within this definition.
The Beer Industry Wants to Give You Short Measure
The Federation has always considered that the customer has a right to the full amount for which he pays. We have repeatedly supported the use of lined glasses in pubs with room for the head of the beer. In yet another response to the Department of Trade & Industry we reiterated our views that the customer has the right to clearly see if he is being sold short measure and that Trading Standards Officers should be able to collect immediate evidence. We asked if the customer was supposed to let the beer go flat to see if he had got the right amount? As a cider or lager drinker I am assured that beer drinkers do not like flat beer. The brewers went a tolerance limit of 5% (short measure) or an average (how can you measure this?). Past court cases have gone against the customer even when given 9% under measure. We can still see no real arguments against the use of lined glasses. A suggested two year introductory period has already passed without action.
The downside of computer technology is that it is so easy to string together a series of predetermined paragraphs, whether this answers the enquirer's questions or not. So it seems was the case with the Legal Services Commission in replying to a member of the NfCG Legislation Committee. This merely told him information he already knew, but did not answer his six precisely worded questions. An accompanying Information Sheet tells how you can select a solicitor to take your case on the basis of either no fee or a reduced one if you lose, or a percentage if you win. You may have to pay court fees, photocopying or witnesses expenses. The main controversy is skipped over in two separate sentences - the insurance fee you may have to pay to cover your opponent's costs if you lose. We understand this may be much less than that charged by the main lay firms that advertise on TV for this work. A solicitor must explain the other ways of covering your costs such as your own prepaid insurance, trades union or other membership schemes and `after the event' schemes as advertised in the Yellow Pages. The last could be on credit terms, which sounds rather chancy.
Shop employees or security staff are ordinary citizens who can only arrest where they can show that an offence has been committed. An innocent shopper can refuse to return to the shop or go into the manager's office unless the staff perform a citizen's arrest. If they then cannot substantiate their case in court, staff may be liable for compensation for false imprisonment or slander, which could prove expensive for the shop. It is as well to be careful in case an item has inadvertently been slipped into your bag, as the staff may then be roused to prosecute.
"Rogue traders operate across local, national and international boundaries, and it's important that action can be taken against them", says Consumer Affairs Minister Kim Howells when revealing a £5 million pound boost for trading standards services in 2001/2 and another £25m over the following two years. Clm will go to consumer support networks which are headed by Jim Spinks, an IM on the NfCG Membership and Development and Legislation Committees. Another ;Elm will be used to recruit coordinators to organise action across boundaries and enforce the law more effectively, and yet another £lm to support child accident charities, as well as £lm for improved training for Trading Standards officers. It is to be hoped that the proposed new `Stop Now Orders' will prevent fraud and scams before too many consumers have become involved.
Travelcards and through ticketing will still be allowed by the Office of Fair Trading even though it might strictly be prohibited by the Competition Act 1998. This will not, however, allow the transport operators to get together to fix ordinary single and return fares. The downside is that staff may not know alternative fares where there are two routes or they may be programmed to promote their employing firm's route unless directly asked. To be a frequent traveller these days you need a great deal of background knowledge as to how the rail system works, especially during a time of rerouting and rail repair.
For a product to be defective in terms of breach of statutory duty under the Consumer Protection Act 1987, it is not necessary to prove that the defect must have previously come to the attention of the manufacturer. The problem should be defined by a lack of the degree of safety which the public is entitled to expect. The case in point concerned an eye injury caused by the recoil of an elasticated strap attached to one of the firm's products. On the other hand a record of previous accidents would come into the category of scientific and technical knowledge that would be taken into account when assessing negligence. The appeal by Mothercare was declared in favour of the plaintiff on his claim under the 1987 Act and in negligence for damages in respect of the injury.
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