I cannot, of course, speak on behalf of Westminster or Lambeth councils—I am not quite sure where in relation to the dividing line between them on the bridge these rogue traders operate—but the power does exist across London. The hon. Gentleman is assiduous in putting forward his points of view, so I am sure he could raise this matter with the Westminsters and the Lambeths in order to make sure they use the powers they have. I join with him, however, in saying that the powers should be used—and Manchester, Leeds, Canterbury, Bournemouth and others want these powers under the street trading legislation.
The second change in terms of normal street trading would be the issuing of fixed penalty notices. They have been found to be useful to prevent acts such as littering. That is a relatively light penalty in the grand scheme of things: it does not revoke licences, but it does allow the local authority to have the control to prevent unnecessary public nuisance and to bring to the attention of traders the need to conform properly to their wider social duties.
The final significant change in terms of street trading licences is the extension of the current definition of simply ““goods”” to ““goods or services””. In my city, an issue has arisen to do with the provision of services such as teeth whitening. Many people think that, regardless of whether the provision of teeth-whitening services on the streets is desirable, that ought to come under the same form of regulation as the sale of goods such as wristwatches on the streets. Bringing in parallel provision for services and goods is a simple and necessary step, and I hope that there is agreement on it.
Manchester City Council Bill [Lords](By Order)
Proceeding contribution from
Tony Lloyd
(Labour)
in the House of Commons on Thursday, 12 June 2008.
It occurred during Debate on bills on Manchester City Council Bill [Lords](By Order).
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2007-08Chamber / Committee
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