Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions she has had with (a) local police forces and (b) Trading Standards authorities on enforcement action against independent shops suspected of supplying counterfeit goods.

The Intellectual Property Office funds the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit or PIPCU. PIPCU and Trading Standards work in concert with the Intellectual Property Office to undertake multi-agency efforts to disrupt counterfeiting activity. We continue to advocate for IP Crime as a high-harm, high-impact crime that requires a system response rather than a fragmented approach.