FREE TRADING STANDARDS COURSES BEING RUN IN CROYDON…..FLY-TIPPING CLAMPDOWN FINDS 80 BUSINESSES BREAKING LAW
The laws surrounding the sale of age-restricted goods are outlined in a course being offered, free of charge, to local businesses by Croydon’s trading standards department.
The “Fair Trading Award do you Pass?” accredited training course informs traders on what the law expects of them and their staff, explains what checks can be used to ensure a customer is old enough to make certain purchases, and offers advice on the best ways to refuse a sale.
Age-restricted products include tobacco, alcohol and knives, and their sale to under-18s can lead to prosecution and heavy financial penalties. A recent prosecution resulted in fines and costs totalling almost £7,000 for a local trader who sold a £1 craft knife to a young person.
The course encourages discussion between delegates on the issues they face when selling such products. Successful candidates are presented with the Fair Trading Award certificate.
Attendees are provided with an information pack containing everything they need to ensure their business is protected. For more information, visit www.tradingstandards.uk/events/doyouPASS.cfm
Croydon’s trading standards department will be hosting eight courses across four days, each with 15 spaces. The next sessions are on the following dates.
• Friday 1 April – 10am to 12.45pm; 1.15 to 4pm.
• Thursday 21 July – 10am to 12.45pm; 1.15 to 4pm.
• Thursday 27 October – 10am to 12.45pm; 1.15 to 4pm.
• Wednesday 25 January 2017 – 10am to 12.45pm; 1.15 to 4pm.
As indicated, each session runs for approximately 2 hours 45 minutes, and includes a 30-minute multiple-choice exam. These courses are offered free of charge and are available only to small or medium-sized Croydon-based businesses.
Unique to Croydon, the sessions will also feature a short presentation from Public Health Croydon entitled “Protecting children and young people – everyone’s business”.
Councillor Mark Watson, cabinet member for safety and justice, said: “The council’s trading standards department has done a great job in engaging with the borough’s traders and making them aware of their responsibilities.
“To date, more than 300 have attended the ‘do you Pass?’ courses, making Croydon one of the top three local authorities in the UK for delivering this training.
“For traders, it’s a win-win situation; they learn the law, how to deal with situations, they get a certificate – and it’s free. I’d urge any who have yet to take the course, to sign up as soon as possible.”
Booking enquiries can be made by calling 020 8407 1311. Please be aware spaces are limited.
All sessions will be held in Bernard Weatherill House, Croydon council’s headquarters building, adjacent to the Town Hall. Enter via the Corporate Reception entrance in Fell Road. (Source: Croydon council press release)
FLY-TIPPING CLAMPDOWN FINDS 80 BUSINESSES BREAKING LAW
More than 80 businesses have been caught breaking the law on waste disposal, say Croydon council.
In the past three months council enforcement officers carrying out inspection visits as part of Croydon’s campaign against fly-tipping found 82 businesses operating without a valid waste transfer note or carrier’s licence and told them to get one within 14 days – or face a large fine.
Enforcement officers have carried out more than 1,000 such visits since summer 2014 as part of the council’s Don’t Mess With Croydon – Take Pride campaign, which targets fly-tippers and encourages community clear-ups.
“By law, all businesses must dispose of their waste through holding either a valid Environment Agency licence or a waste transfer note” said a council spokesman. “Any resident or business caught fly-tipping or using an unlicensed waste carrier faces unlimited fines and a possible court conviction” he added.
Since the Don’t Mess With Croydon campaign began, the council have issued more than 800 fixed-penalty notices and prosecuted in excess of 70 people. Over the Christmas period, the council seized four Ford Transit vans used to illegally carry rubbish, and, last May, it successfully prosecuted a man who was given a six-year jail term for fly-tipping 42 tonnes of waste in Waddon.
The council has also encouraged around 270 local residents to become community champions, and council employees and contractors have provided staff and equipment to help out in local clear-ups.
Croydon’s deputy leader and cabinet member for clean and green Croydon Cllr Stuart Collins said: “Every new waste contract means less fly-tipping in our borough, which is why this part of our Don’t Mess campaign is important.
“This law is there to stop fly-tipping blighting our environment, so it doesn’t matter if you’re a handyman, a hairdresser or a hotelier – get a proper waste contract if you don’t already have one, or face the consequences.” (Source: Croydon council press release)