Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes to funding from central government for local authorities on the provision of trading standards services by councils.

Funding and prioritisation for trading standards are decisions for local authorities – accountable to local communities and the people they serve.

Government recognises that consumer protection goes beyond local authority boundaries, and therefore provides £15m per year for coordinated Trading Standards activity in the UK.