Council to use discretion over Trading Standards prosecutions

The Fleece in Northallerton.

A council once condemned for prosecuting a landlady for serving a pint which was six teaspoons of beer short of a guideline minimum has pledged to use discretion over future Trading Standards prosecutions.

Pub industry leaders expressed disbelief in 2016 after North Yorkshire County Council unsuccessfully took the licensee of The Fleece, Northallerton, to court over “a splash of ale” served in a test purchase.

The council’s officers took the action after finding a pint of lager served to them by a new member of staff was above the British Beer and Pub Association guideline minimum of 95 per cent liquid, but a pint of ale was 5.3 per cent (31ml) below.

Magistrates dismissed the charge after accepting landlady Michelle Craggs adequately trained her staff and took due diligence to ensure correct measures were served.

At the time Mrs Craggs said: “They prosecuted over a matter of a splash, not even a mouthful. I run a very tight ship and over 30 years I have never had any issue with the police or trading standards.

“Due to the stress takings are £40,000 down and I often found myself crying for no apparent reason.”

The authority’s executive heard a revised Trading Standards enforcement policy emphasised discretion would be used when deciding whether to investigate consumer complaints and other reports or findings of non-compliance.

It states: “It is recognised that it is neither necessary nor possible for the purposes of the execution of our statutory duties to investigate all issues of non-compliance with the law.”

The document says that in the first instance the council would seek to issue warnings over illegal sales.

The policy states: “We recognise that most businesses want to comply with the law and minor non-compliances will be dealt with by advice and guidance unless previous advice has been ignored or there is other evidence that a business had deliberately broken the law.”

The authority’s executive member for trading standards, Councillor Andrew Lee, said the revised Trading Standards enforcement policy sought to clarify when it would prosecute offenders, set out changes to penalties and how it would seek to recover ill-gotten gains.

Councillor Gareth Dadd, the council’s deputy leader, added the authority recognised “over zealous enforcement officers” were not helpful for traders who inadvertently infringed rules.

He said: “Let’s not forget we have a higher proportion of small and medium size businesses than other areas of the country and the decent folk trying to earn a living. We recognise that for minor breaches of compliances guidance and support is given rather than slapping fines on them and disrupting business.”

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