North
Yorkshire County Council
Business and
Environmental Services
Executive
Members
14 December
2022
Trading Standards
Tasking Filter and Matrix
Report of the
Assistant Director - Growth, Planning and Trading
Standards
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1.0
Purpose of the report:
1.1
To report to the Corporate Director
Business and Environmental Service (BES) and the Executive Member
for Open for Business, on the use of the trading standards filter
and matrix from 1 September 2021 to 31 August 2022.
1.2
To seek approval for a ‘cost
of living weighting’ and the continued use of the filter and
matrix.
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2.0
Background to the report
2.1
The Corporate Director (BES) and BES
Executive Members approved the filter and matrix on 27 February
2015, and it was implemented from 1 April 2015. It has been subject
to minor amendments on a number of occasions. The last report was
made on 17 December 2021. The current filter and matrix is produced
as Appendix A to this report.
2.2
The filter and matrix was introduced
to enable the Trading Standards Service (TSS) to manage and
allocate reduced resources. The reduction in core budget since 2015
has been mitigated by successes the Service has had in obtaining
income and in securing corporate and external funding to run
specific delivery programmes and projects. However, the impact on
core work is such that there are fewer resources to provide
investigative and inspection work outside those service delivery
programmes and projects. TSS uses the filter and matrix mechanism
to manage the volume of complaints and service requests received.
It ensures that there is an agreed, consistent and transparent
approach to the response provided to all such complaints and
service requests.
3.0
Complaints and Service
Requests
3.1
In recent years, the TSS has
received around 7,000 consumer complaints per year via the Citizens
Advice Consumer Service helpline, with 2018-19 recording the lowest
number at 6,282. Numbers began rising the following year, hitting a
peak of 7,297 complaints received between 1 September 2020 and 31
August 2021. Reporting of covid restrictions breaches and unsafe
practices, along with covid-related complaints such as those
concerning wedding or holiday bookings, contributed to the rise.
6,893 complaints were received between 1 September 2021 and 31
August 2022.
3.2
The former downward trend was seen nationally over several years.
It is believed that the ready availability of online advice for
straightforward consumer enquiries, such as someone wanting to know
what their statutory rights are before returning goods, and the
ability to contact large retailers about complaints easily via
their social media accounts is responsible for the reduction.
However, it has been noted that there has been an increase in
pricing related complaints this year and it can be expected that as
the cost of living rises continue to affect residents, complaints
about pricing, energy suppliers, accommodation and vehicles are
likely to increase.
3.3
Charts showing the number of
complaints received, filtered, scored through the matrix and tasked
for 1 September 2021 to 31 August 2022 are set out in Appendix B.
Charts for the same period in both 2020-21 and 2019-20 are included
for comparison purposes. A summary, table 13, shows the total
number of complaints received, scored and tasked over the last four
reporting periods. Following a peak of 19% of complaints received
tasked during the early days of the pandemic, tasking levels have
settled at 12% and 13% of complaints received over the last two
years. This is slightly higher than the pre-pandemic level which
had settled between 8% and 10%.
3.4
There are three probable reasons for the increase in percentage of
complaints tasked:
a.
The reduction in
straightforward complaints as a result of consumers’
self-help noted in paragraph 3.2 above means that a higher
percentage of complaints received by the service warrant
intervention.
b.
Following the pandemic
there was an increase in people undertaking home improvements and
this led to an increase in complaints about building and other home
maintenance sectors. This type of work inevitably involves a
significant cost outlay and so led to a higher proportion of
complaints being tasked.
c.
There has been a
noticeable increase in complaints about more minor pricing issues,
such as failure to price mark goods or discrepancies between shelf
edge prices and prices charged at the till. Such complaints often
relate to convenience stores and corner shops and so are likely to
have more of an impact on those on a low income or with financial
or other vulnerabilities who may not be able to travel to an
alternative shop. Where possible, the financial detriment element
of the matrix has been used to allow these complaints to be tasked.
A proposal is set out in paragraphs 4.2 and 4.3 to formalise this
for the duration of the cost of living crisis.
3.5
Approximately 1,000 service requests
are made each year for business advice (including animal health and
food), no cold calling zones, weight restriction enforcement, and
education work. The number of service requests has been falling
year on year with 936 received between 1 September 2021 and 31
August 2022. 1,051 service requests were received between 1
September 2020 and 31 August 2021, and 1,105 between 1 September
2019 and 31 August 2020. This compares with 1,361 between 1
September 2018 and 31 August 2019.
3.6
The service offered free business advice to all North Yorkshire
businesses during the pandemic until 1 October 2021 in order to
support businesses though difficult trading conditions. However,
the pandemic inevitably led to a reduction in new product launches
for established businesses and a reduction in overall trade for
many sectors meaning there was a lower demand for proactive advice.
Since then, the economic situation has also meant that established
businesses are less likely to launch new products or seek to
expand.
3.7
The service offers free advice to new businesses based in North
Yorkshire and there may be an increase in demand for such advice if
people decide to set up their own business in response to
redundancy or lack of other employment opportunities. Such new
ventures are often in relatively high risk areas such as the
manufacture of cosmetics, toys, cakes or dog treats and can require
detailed and complex advice. Whilst this can be resource intensive,
research has shown that a business which has access to good quality
advice when it is set up is twice as likely to grow as if it does
not.
Helping businesses get things right at the beginning also removes
unnecessary enforcement costs later on.
4.0
Proposed Amendments to the Filter
and Matrix
4.1
Consumers and businesses are being
hit hard by the rising cost of living. A House of Commons Library
research briefing
published on 20 October 2022 reported that the annual rate of
inflation reached 10.1% in September 2022, a 40 year high. The same
month, the Office for National Statistics
found that 79% of adults were ‘very’ or
‘somewhat’ worried about the rising cost of living.
Even more starkly, the National Trading Standards Strategic
Assessment, published on 3 November 2022, reports that
losing just £100 to a scam now would tip one in four (24%) UK
adults into financial crisis, unable to pay bills, or buy food or
other essentials.
4.2
It has been observed
that there has been an increase in complaints about issues such as
a lack of shelf edge pricing or discrepancies between price
markings and prices charged as people become more aware of the cost
of their shopping. Such matters would not ordinarily score highly
enough on the matrix to be tasked to an officer. In order that
resources can be allocated to these areas it is proposed that a
‘cost of living’ weighting be added temporarily to the
‘financial detriment’ element of the matrix as
below:
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FACTOR
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NONE
Score 0
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LOW
Score 1
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MODERATE
Score 6
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HIGH
Score 10
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SCORE
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COMMENTS
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Financial
Detriment (include wider economic impact)
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No
financial detriment
CLW =
ADD 10
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Total
value estimated at less than £1,000
CLW
= ADD 10
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Total
value estimated at £1,000
to £10,000
CLW
= ADD 5
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Total
value estimated at over £10,000
CLW
= ADD 5
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APPLY
COST OF LIVING WEIGHTING (CLW)
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4.3
This weighting would be applied in respect of complaints
concerning:
a.
failure to price
goods
b.
misleading price
indications or price comparisons
c.
failure to provide
unit pricing information
d.
single reports of
short measure of food, drink or fuel
e.
overcharging
f.
unfair practices in
connection with the repair of vehicles or white goods
4.4
The continued need for the weighting would be reviewed annually.
Worked examples to illustrate the impact of the proposed cost of
living weighting can be found at Appendix C.
5.0
Equalities
5.1
It is the view of officers that there are no equalities
implications arising from the recommendations. A decision record
sheet covering the decision not to complete an equalities impact
assessment in relation to the introduction of the filter and matrix
is attached as Appendix D.
6.0
Financial
6.1
There are no significant financial
implications for the County Council arising from the
recommendations.
7.0
Legal
7.1
The filter and matrix is designed to
provide a consistent and transparent process by which to deploy
resources and so, applied correctly, would assist with responding
to complaints or legal arguments that particular enforcement action
should or should not have been taken.
8.0
Climate Change
8.1
Consideration has been given to the potential for any climate
impacts arising from the recommendation. It is the view of officers
that the recommendation has a neutral impact on the environment of
North Yorkshire and on our aspiration to achieve net carbon
neutrality by 2030 and a copy of the Climate change impact
assessment screening form is attached as Appendix E.
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9.0
Recommendations
9.1
That the Corporate Director (BES) in
consultation with the Executive Member for Open to Business, note
the contents of this report and approve the proposed addition of a
‘cost of living’ weighting and the continued use of the
filter and matrix.
9.2
Subject to such approval, that the
TSS reports on the use of the filter and matrix to the Corporate
Director (BES) and the Executive Member for Open to Business in
December 2023.
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DAVID
CAULFIELD
Assistant Director
Growth, Planning and Trading Standards
Author of report: Jo
Boutflower, Head of Business and Consumer Services
Background
Documents: None
COMPLAINTS RECEIVED AND TASKED
The total complaints received
between 1 September 2021 and 31 August 2022 was 6,893, with
monthly totals shown in table 1.
Table 1
The total complaints received
between 1 September 2020 and 31 August 2021 was 7,297, with
monthly totals shown in table 2.
Table 2
6,475 complaints were received
between 1 September 2019 and 31 August 2020, with monthly
totals shown in table 3.
Table 3
5,670 (82%) of the 6,893
complaints received between September 2021 and August 2022
were filtered out. The percentage of complaints filtered out by
month is shown in table 4.
Table 4
6,020 (82%) of the 7,297
complaints received during September 2020 and August 2021
were filtered out. The percentage of complaints filtered out by
month is shown in table 5.
Table 5
4,606 (71%) of the 6,475
complaints received between September 2019 and August 2020
were filtered out. The percentage of complaints filtered out by
month is shown in table 6.
Table 6
1,223 complaints (18%) passed
through the filter and were matrix scored between September 2021
and August 2022. The percentage of complaints scored each month
is shown in table 7.
Table 7
1,277 complaints (18%) passed
through the filter and were matrix scored between September 2020
and August 2021. The percentage of complaints scored each month
is shown in table 8.
Table 8
1,869 complaints (29%) passed
through the filter and were matrixed scored between September
2019 and August 2020. The percentage of complaints scored each
month is shown in table 9. The March 2020 figure reflects the
introduction of covid restrictions.
Table 9
892 (73%) of the 1,223 scored
complaints were tasked between September 2021 and August
2022. The percentage of scored complaints tasked each month is
shown in table 10.
Table 10
885 (69%) of the 1,277 scored
complaints were tasked between September 2020 and August
2021. The percentage of scored complaints tasked each month is
shown in table 11.
Table 11
1,252 (67%) of the 1,869 scored
complaints were tasked between September 2019 and August
2020. The percentage of scored complaints tasked each month is
shown in table 12.
Table 12
A
comparison of complaints received, scored and tasked over the last
four reporting periods is produced as table 13.
Table 13
Key
Blue -
complaints received
Rust
– complaints scored
Green –
complaints tasked
The overall percentage of complaints received that were tasked is
shown below.
|
Year
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Number of
complaints rec’d
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% of
complaints tasked
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2018-19
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6,282
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9%
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2019-20
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6,475
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19%
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2020-21
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7,297
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12%
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2021-22
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6,893
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13%
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Worked example
1
Two complaints are
received from residents who say that their local convenience store
does not price mark the majority of its products, and that even
when goods are priced, they have been charged more at the till. One
complainant says she bought a 500g pack of spreadable butter which
was priced at £5.00 but it was rung through the till at
£6.50. When she raised it with the assistant she was told;
“Wholesale prices are going up so quickly we can’t keep
on top of them.” The second complainant says he has no idea
how much individual items have cost as most aren’t priced and
he is never given a receipt, but his shopping now costs about
£20 per week more than it did last month and that seems too
much.
Applying the current
filter and matrix
These complaints would
score:
Public safety =
0
Vulnerable
consumer/aggressive practice = 0 (no indication of vulnerability at
this stage)
Financial detriment =
1 (less than £1,000)
Environmental impact =
0
Reputational risk = 1
(assumes local media interest)
Trader profile = 1
(single outlet)
Trader history = 6
(after 2nd complaint)
This gives a total of
9, which equates to no further action.
Applying proposed cost
of living weighting
This would increase
the financial detriment score to 11 and the overall total to
19.
A score of 19 equates
to ‘advise’ which would allow an officer to visit the
premises to inspect the pricing, potentially make some test
purchases and provide written advice to the trader.
Worked example
2
A complainant reports
that her washing machine broke down over the weekend and she
arranged to have it repaired by the proprietor of the local second
hand shop as she needed to wash her children’s school
uniforms and her work uniform for the start of the week. The shop
owner came to her house, a 2 minute walk from the shop, and
‘messed about’ with the machine for 10 minutes. He told
her it was beyond repair and that he could fix her up with a
refurbished model if she came into the shop. He left her with a
bill for £200 for a call out fee and repair
charge.
Current filter and
matrix
Using the current
filter and matrix these complaints would score:
Public safety =
0
Vulnerable
consumer/aggressive practice = 1 (low indication of vulnerability
given urgent need for washing machine)
Financial detriment =
1 (less than £1,000)
Environmental impact =
0
Reputational risk = 1
(assumes local media interest)
Trader profile = 1
(single outlet)
Trader history = 1 (no
known history)
This gives a total of
5, which equates to no further action.
Applying proposed cost
of living weighting
This would increase
the financial detriment score to 11 and the overall total to 16.
This would allow an officer to visit the premises and to issue
written advice.
In both worked
examples, further infringements would lead to a higher score and
the written advice issued here would give a foundation on which to
base stronger enforcement action.
