Harry Cohen
TRADING STANDARDS
Recently I went to visit Trading Standards Offices in Warrington who provide an excellent, and often overlooked, service for consumers. Whether you have had problems with goods you’ve purchased or with a service provided or even if you simply want advice on reputable suppliers, trading standards officers can advise you. I know, from my postbag, that there is a need for this invaluable service. They produce lists of reputable traders and a Consumer Support Pack which provides advice and standard letters to help people make a complaint about goods and services as well as hints on dealing with traders at your door, in the form of a list to hang on your door handle.
One recent innovation has been the setting up of a Consumer Support Network to spread information and provide high quality advice. The network has been set up, with money from government to make people more aware of their rights as consumers and it includes both voluntary organisations and individuals who have agreed to be contacts in their particular area. It is an excellent example of how to make people better informed and to protect them from unscrupulous traders. An approach to any member of the network provides access to help from the network as a whole.
You can get hold of the Consumer Support Pack on the internet – www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/warrington - or by contacting Trading Standards on 01925 442678. We should be proud that we have such a good service and that the Consumer Support Network is one of the first in the country.
I continue to receive a large number of letters and e-mails regarding third world issues. One tangible way to show support is to visit the Fair Trade stall in Warrington Market. I was delighted to have been invited to cut their 1st Birthday Cake on 13 September to mark that celebration and confirm my support for trade justice. I can certainly recommend both the coffee and chocolate on sale at the stall. Buying fairly traded goods is a practical way of making sure that some of the poorest people in the world get a fair price for their products. The volunteers who run the stall have put in a lot of time and effort to make it attractive and to stock an interesting range of goods. Why not pop in next time you’re in the market.
For more information on trading standards or trade justice you can contact Helen Jones MP – by letter to Gilbert Wakefield House, 67 Bewsey Street, Warrington, WA2 7JQ; by phone on 01925 232 480; by fax on 01925 232 239; or via e-mail at jonesh@parliament.uk
