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London-based Derek Allen, head of the regulatory services body LACORS, reports on a recent trip to see the work of trading standards teams in action. Arriving at Northallerton's small railway station in icy winds and darkened skies, against a backdrop of the snowy, remote hills of the North Yorkshire moors, it reminded me, if I needed it, that there is a very different world beyond the sometimes-rarefied air of London's Smith Square and its environs. Graham Venn, North Yorkshire CC's assistant director in charge of trading standards and planning services, had made his senior management team available to let me know what life is like on the frontline for his regulatory services in a very large – more than 3,000 square miles – mainly rural and quite remote county location. What Mr Venn makes clear is that what matters in North Yorkshire for public protection services is meeting the needs of its residents, businesses and the many thousands of people who visit this beautiful part of the country. He is passionate about this place, and so is his team. All have worked hard to develop a service that is fit for purpose for the county's different communities and localities. Mr Venn wrestles with the need to meet national performance indicators for his service, that, at best, tick boxes for central government, and at worst, seem neither relevant nor appropriate for the specific needs of the many different communities. His team concentrates on intelligence-led work, in particular, protecting the elderly from being ripped off by organised crime gangs of cowboy builders who prey on the most vulnerable in society. Often based outside North Yorkshire, these people move rapidly in and out of the county, avoiding detection, and see the remote houses and hamlets as ‘easy pickings'. Mr Venn says it is this work which has value, and not the routine inspections which would be required to satisfy national indicators. His dedicated team members gave me examples of pensioners losing many thousands of pounds, often their whole life savings from these so-called builders for work that was either not necessary or carried out appallingly badly, if done at all. They work painstakingly to investigate and track these criminals down, using tools and techniques, including the controversial Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 legislation, and have successfully prosecuted and confiscated criminal's assets under the Proceeds of Crime Act powers. They have also selectively introduced ‘no cold calling' zones which discourage rogue traders operating in a locality, usually zoning a couple of streets at a time. This helps small groups of residents to look out for each other, challenge ‘suspects', and notify the council where it persists or they are worried. This has had a dramatic effect on reducing rogue trader activities and subsequent rip-off crimes in these areas, and is community empowerment in action. Mr Venn says: ‘The problem is we know this is what our communities want and therefore, this is what we do, but our national indicators sometimes can look a bit weak. ‘But our priority is always to meet the needs and properly protect our local communities'. He does recognise that some of the county's services such as animal health control, play a crucial role both in preventing a major animal disease outbreak such as foot-and-mouth disease, or avian influenza, and also in the event of a major outbreak, ensuring effective control measures are in place to reduce and ultimately, help eradicate a disease outbreak. North Yorkshire has more than 8,400 agricultural premises and 10 livestock markets, with huge numbers of animal movements that need to be properly recorded and controlled. This work largely goes unnoticed but if something goes wrong, the impact can and has been in the past, catastrophic to the animals, the farming community, tourism and therefore, the economy. I have a huge amount of respect for these unsung heroes, and for the council politicians throughout the country for their continued investment and support in these key frontline services. Our job at LACORS is to make sure we provide Mr Venn and his team and every council's regulatory services with high-quality, value-for-money support and representation, to make their very difficult job that bit easier. As I made my way slowly on the train from Northallerton back to London, I reflected on my visit and the really impressive things I had learned that day, and it left me with a further thought – I really should get out more. I'm very glad I did. Derek Allen is executive director of LACORS

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WHITEHALL

Protecting the public

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