Business Service Plan

The Trading Standards Service is located within the Directorate of City Operations, Neighbourhoods and Regulatory Services. The responsible Cabinet Member for the Trading Standards service within the  Neighbourhood Services Portfolio is the Deputy Leader Councillor Alex Hay. The primary aim of the Business Service Plan (pdf 802 kb) is to enable Newcastle City Council's Trading Standards Service to demonstrate what the key priorities are for the service in 2025/2026 and show how those activities contribute to the delivery of key local public services and priorities.

Our common and primary purpose in meeting all our planned objectives is to benefit the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, which primarily involves providing long term benefits to the businesses and consumers, which Trading Standards are empowered by a very wide range of statutory legislation to advise and protect. 

In particular the Service will respond positively to the following key priorities for the City Council.

“Newcastle is a United city that is inclusive and proud. We are committed to ensuring that everyone is valued, welcomed, and empowered.

We are ambitious and creative. We are a global city of opportunity, inspiring people to be a part of our success”.

OUR 5 PRIORITIES FOR RESIDENTS IN 2025/26

• Effective statutory services for all residents

• Cleaner streets and neighbourhoods

• Active and united communities

• Easy movement around the city

• Quality homes for all

The Trading Standards Service seeks to make Newcastle a Fairer City and Safer City by inspiring and supporting communities to take the lead themselves against unfair and rogue trading, and by encouraging people to get involved and work together in continue to build consumer protection in Newcastle. Through such local involvement, the Trading Standards Service can then target its resources at those issues which can cause concern to our local communities and which require the Service to exercise its highly specialised interventions and enforcement powers.

To see the type of work that the Service carried out in 2024/2025 go to the Annual Report (pdf 863 kb)

Specifically we note within the Newcastle Labour Manifesto 2019 the following statement:

"Occasionally there are sickening stories in our local media highlighting the scams that have been carried out on vulnerable older people. We have already introduced a number of 'no cold calling' zones across Newcastle, where such scams are more likely to be tried, but we will continue to raise awareness about scams and pursue the perpetrators through Trading Standards".

For 2025/2026, the Trading Standards Service will aim to make a significant contribution to the protection of vulnerable people and the reduction of inequalities and the delivery of excellent services. Go to our webpage Doorstep Crime

In protecting the most vulnerable people in our society, the service will seek to strengthen communities so that Newcastle residents are resilient to rogue traders, scams and unfair commercial practices. The service will continue to be creative and innovative in ensuring that our interventions make an impact, are self-sustaining and offer real value to the people of Newcastle. The service will also work collaboratively with partners in Newcastle's public and voluntary sectors to ensure that we deliver outcomes that meet the needs of our public in the most effective and efficient way.

The Trading Standards Service will of course continue to provide regulatory services that protect both consumers and legitimate businesses, that create safer communities, and that support a fair and safe trading environment. We will also continue to develop collaborative activities with our colleagues in the regional partnership body that is the North East Trading Standards Association (NETSA), in order to assure consistency, maximise efficiency, and create capacity, and the service shall continue to be prominent contributors at the national level to ensure that the voice of the City of Newcastle upon Tyne remains influential in the rapidly changing 'consumer landscape'.

Enforcement Policy

To see a copy of the Enforcement Policy adopted by the Division. 

Contact

Trading Standards service, Directorate of City Operations, Neighbourhoods and Regulatory Services, Civic Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8QH. Email: tradingstandards@newcastle.gov.uk