In a previous post I wrote about the cutbacks at Hampshire County Council. Cutbacks are nothing unusual, but what was a bit unusual was the apparent disarray the department was in. You can read my previous post here:
http://tradingstandardsblog.co.uk/cutbacks-at-hampshire-county-council-trading-standards
I emailed Carolyn Williamson the then Chief Executive of Hampshire CC – she acknowledged my email but no substantive response. I also emailed Rob Humby – leader of the council – who did not respond.
The three other main people directly involved were Claire Fuller, Emma Noyce and Felicity Roe – all of whom have either left Hampshire CC or moved to other departments.
Unfortunately, it seems the situation has become even worse- and this just demonstrates how people in the public sector have no accountability.
Since my last post I have received the following information
- numerous more skilled officers have left (at least 5)
- senior officers going off on sick leave because of stress/working conditions
- at one point the entire Complaints and Investigations team was completely empty as all the officers left at the same time – meaning no work being done in that area
- there are too many skills gaps and officers doing job for which they do not have sufficient training
- senior management is weak and cannot make decisions
- the department is failing to carry out its functions properly
- low morale
- all officers were offered voluntary redundancy – many went for it and were then told it was never opened to them in the first place – some of these have now ‘checked out’
I will be raising this with the leader of Hampshire County Council for comment.
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Sad that this is happening. Trading Standards in my area is also poor with certain areas apparently being ignored. Rogue building in my area is rife with lots of people losing 5 and 6 figure sums but there seems little appetite by Trading Standards to do anything.
From speaking with others across the country, there does seem to be a significant issue with the lack of accountability and professionalism in many Trading Standards departments. There is certainly a lot of frustration out there about the lack of action by Trading Standards.
It’s very tiresome hearing the government (whether that is the Tories or labour) trot out the same lines about there being robust consumer rights. Its pointless if they are not being enforced and often the civil route is completely pointless – its impossible to get the money out of the offender and then of course if the loss is greater than 10k you can’t even use the small claim court.