Trading Standards Mini-site
Informal economy
Markets work well for consumers when there is vigorous competition between fair-dealing businesses for their custom. This competition and fairness is substantially undermined when traders operate in the informal economy. It results in an uneven playing field for legitimate business, substantial costs associated with intellectual property and security protection, consumer detriment and significant loss to the Exchequer in taxation.
Many traders operating in the informal economy are also prominent and prolific offenders, linked to crime families, organised crime and, in some case, international terrorism. They can be engaged in product counterfeiting, the introduction of illegal goods or the reintroduction of stolen goods to the market place, criminal deceptions, food adulteration, substitution and fraud or supply chain or long form frauds.
Trading Standards Services have shown that, in partnership with Industry, effective action can be taken to disrupt and curtail the activities of traders operating in the informal economy.
Case Study Links
BROMLEY CRIME FAMILY
In 2002 Bromley Trading Standards began investigating two complaints made by elderly consumers who had each paid builders £11,000 and £25,000 for property repairs. Both consumers had been cold called by the builders who had claimed to be working on other properties in the area and had noticed concrete had fallen into the gutters of their property. The builders offered to carry out basic repairs for a few pounds. However once on the roof the builders discovered major structural repairs were needed and claimed failing to carry out the repairs would cause the collapse of the buildings.
A number of offences were uncovered and they all followed the same modus operandi – a cold call on an elderly victim, claiming minor property repairs were needed, and the price escalating from a few pounds up to £75,000. In one case the brothers persuaded an elderly woman to sign her house over to them, having already taken £20, 000 from her. No paperwork was ever given and in all cases the work, when examined by an expert, was found to be poor, non existent or worth a fraction of the total cost.
In sentencing the men Judge Pratt said “This is by far the worst case of bogus cowboy builders I have ever come across. It is clear the family business was devoted to preying on the elderly and vulnerable and fleecing the victims of as much as you could lay your hands on”. The victims were aged between 59 and 88.
TRADING STANDARDS NORTH WEST INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CRIME PROJECT
Intellectual property crime cheats consumers, costs jobs and helps fund organised crime. Piracy and counterfeiting, including DVDs, perfumes, clothing and alcohol, costs the UK economy billions of pounds and undermines the success of many of the UK’s best companies.
In a project developed by the Patent Office and Trading Standards North West, brand owners, police, trading standards and customs have been brought together to:
increase the sharing of intelligence between different agencies;
improve training for those working at the front-line;
better co-ordinate the agencies involved in the fight against intellectual property crime; and
monitor progress and success by publishing an annual national enforcement report.
This project has recently been rolled out as a National Strategy for Intellectual Property Crime. For more information, read the official press release .
OPERATION CUBIT
Operation Cubit was established in Kent as a multi-agency scheme for dealing with abandoned and untaxed vehicles (AUVs). In Kent, as elsewhere in England and Wales, AUVs give rise to a wide range of problems and the numbers of vehicles being abandoned is increasing. This report presents the findings of an evaluation of two pilot Cubit operations.
Operation Cubit brought together the key agencies that have powers in relation to AUVs – the police, the local authorities, and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). The main aim of Cubit was to use these agencies’ powers in combination to remove AUVs quickly and efficiently from the streets and other areas. The pilots also aimed to disrupt criminal activity associated with the use of untaxed vehicles. Other supplementary aims included encouraging the voluntary re-licensing of vehicles and discouraging the abandonment of vehicles.
For further information
read the official evaluation of Operation Cubit
PDF 231Kb.
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