BRIAN Wilson touches upon a number of issues concerning trading standards, including staff shortages (“Keeping trading standards up to the highest level”, Agenda, The Herald, October 2). However, staff shortages are one thing, poorly trained officers are quite another.
Enforcement agencies must employ competent investigative staff. Investigators should, among other things, understand the law, be familiar with statutory interpretation (identifying facts in issue), assessing complaints and, where appropriate, obtain signed statements from complainants before undertaking an investigation. The purpose of obtaining a signed statement at the outset is to ensure there is no misunderstanding about the facts of a complaint.
Some time ago I reported the facts of an involved matter to a trading standards officer by telephone. That officer, on the basis of our discussion, telephoned the supplier and put what he understood to be the facts of the matter, to the supplier. A short time later I received a telephone call from a very irate supplier who angrily denied the officer’s allegation. Regrettably, the subject of his denial did not form the substance of my complaint. My dispute with the supplier was later resolved but without further assistance from the officer or the agency concerned.
Should government (national and local) decide to invest in trading standards the first step must be to recruit competent investigators and train them how to enforce trading standards law.
Staff, like goods and services, should be fit for purpose.
Ian F Mackay,
5 Smillie Place, Kilmarnock.
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