The Trading Standards Service:

  • Gives advice and information to consumers on fair trading and consumer rights
  • Enforces consumer protection law and Waltham Forest Enforcement protocol
  • Gives advice to local businesses on their legal obligations
  • Informs and educates the local community through displays, talks, the Waltham Forest website and media coverage
  • Consults you to develop and improve the service, informs you of the results and changes made
  • Provides excellent services and value for money
  • Welcomes your complaints, compliments and comments as they can help us to make our service better. Forms are available at all reception areas
  • Consumer Direct provides clear practical consumer advice. Contact Consumer Direct on: 08454 04 05 06 or log on to www.consumerdirect.gov.uk

The Trading Standards Service focuses on:

  • Reducing sales to underage children by investigating complaints and regularly test purchasing from businesses selling alcohol, tobacco, fireworks and other age restricted goods
  • Trademarks and copyright law
  • Consumers rights
  • Promoting the local ‘Get a Better Trader’ scheme
  • Sales of unsafe products
  • Misleading prices and descriptions
  • Checking goods vehicles are within safe weight limits
  • Motor vehicle sales and repairs
  • Ensuring fair weights and measures of everyday products

We promise to:

  • Respond to requests for service as quickly a possible and in all cases within 10 days
  • Be polite and helpful and guarantee confidentiality and equality
  • Write in plain language and provide translations where appropriate
  • Provide information in community languages, on tape, or in Braille, at customer’s request
  • Keep you informed of the progress of your enquiry and the outcome
  • Keep appointments made and inform you if it is necessary to cancel
  • Wear name badges and show identification
  • Identify ourselves when we contact you and provide you with our contact details
  • Acknowledge complaints about our service within 5 days and complete the investigation within 28 days

Performance - How did we do?

Customers
Services 2005/2006 2006/2007
What is our consumer satisfaction rating? 94.9% 93.5%
How many consumer complaints did we deal with? 1496 1,054
What percentage of complaints did we respond to within target times? 97.7% 97.6%
How much money did we get back for consumers? £29,786 £25,051
Businesses
Services 2005/2006 2006/2007
What is our business satisfaction rating? 92.6% 89.6%
What percentage of high risk premises did we visit? 100% 100%
How many successful prosecutions did we take? 70 56
What amount of business fines was imposed upon defendants? £24,690 £43,525

Contact us

Trading Standards
Consumer Protection Service
Sycamore House, Town Hall Complex
Forest Road
London E17 4JF
Tel 020 8496 3000
E-mail trading.standards@walthamforest.gov.uk