
In a comprehensive Freedom of Information (FOI) request regarding Trading Standards’ capacity and performance, the consumer champion contacted 187 Trading Standards services in England, Wales and Scotland.
Trading Standards is a council department that enforces laws to ensure businesses are operating legally and fairly. They investigate illegal business activity and unfair trading practices.
Which? received responses from all the departments it contacted, with the responses exposing significant differences in staffing levels.
Services in some areas were stretched to the point where it was impossible for them to effectively carry out essential work such as intercepting fake and dangerous products or cracking down on ‘cowboy’ builders.
Which? found that some areas had fewer than one Trading Standards officer per 100,000 people. It also found situations where small teams of enforcement staff were responsible for enforcing certain areas of compliance by some of the world’s biggest businesses.

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Lack of Trading Standards staff
Which? found some local authorities with only one or two members of staff in their Trading Standards team, amounting to fewer than one per 100,000 people living there.
Enfield had the smallest team, with 0.43 staff per 100,000 people. By comparison, Trading Standards for Devon, Somerset, Plymouth and Torbay had 67 total staff and 3.7 staff per 100,000 people.
Lancashire County Council had 55.6 total staff and 4.44 per 100,000 people. In Orkney, there were almost five Trading Standards staff covering the islands – the equivalent of almost 21 staff per 100,000 people.
Liverpool City Council, with five-and-a-half staff in total (1.11 staff per 100,000 people) and Barnsley Borough Council, with 3.1 staff (1.26 staff per 100,000 people), were among the areas found to have low staffing levels.
Funding cuts
Which? said the impact of funding cuts on the action taken to protect consumers is clearly evident at Enfield Council. It reduced its Trading Standards team from four officers to one-and-a-half in 2023 – leaving the reduced team of staff responsible for enforcing almost 300 pieces of legislation.
Enfield managed one prosecution and six seizures of products in the financial year 2023/24, but no routine inspections, test purchases or cautions.
The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) has previously said that spending on Trading Standards services had been cut by more than 50% over the past decade and staffing levels have fallen by 30% to 50% over the same period.
Calls for Government to act
Which? found that funding was generally a big factor, and called on the Government to carry out a comprehensive review of Trading Standards. It said the review should include looking at prioritising resources more effectively, better use of intelligence, sharing of services to make better use of limited resources and a greater role for national regulators.
Rocio Concha, Which?’s director of policy and advocacy, said: “Our research shows that Trading Standards is no longer fit for purpose. Millions of people face a postcode lottery, which dictates whether they get adequate protection from crime, dangerous products and blatant rip-offs.
“The Government could be spending taxpayers’ money more wisely. Without urgent reform to the current system, there could be disastrous consequences for consumers, responsible businesses and economic growth. Which? is calling for the Government to look at overhauling the consumer enforcement system as part of its spending review, with more scrutiny of its effectiveness, better use of intelligence, sharing of services and more oversight and accountability.”