Minutes:
The Overview and Scrutiny Officer referred members to the recent prominent articles and news stories relating to the remit of the Safer and Stronger Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
Articles included “Fine for unlicensed scrap metal dealer” DCC website 6 February 2020 that related to a scrap metal dealer who was prosecuted and fined for not having a licence to trade in the material during an operation to crack down on unlicensed dealers. This related to item 9 on the Committee’s agenda that would be presented by the Consumer Protection Manager.
The second article was “Illegal tobacco – appeal to public to help stop kids smoking”, Northern Echo 21 January 2020. The article related to the Keep it Out campaign aimed at people in County Durham being encouraged to help stop local children from smoking by reporting the sale of illegal tobacco by dishonest shops or through private homes or ‘tab houses’ to the Police, Trading Standards or HMRC. This also related to item 9 on the Committee’s agenda.
Councillor Boyes was concerned that the scrap dealer mentioned in the media article that had been caught recently had been operating without a license for over two years. He thought these types of licenses were operated and monitored in the same way as taxi licenses.
Councillor Crathorne stated that she was unclear as to what the scrap metal licenses looked like so would not be able to tell whether a scrap metal dealer had a valid license or not.
Councillor Boyes was unsure how scrap metal licenses were displayed unlike taxi badges which were displayed in the vehicle.
The Overview and Scrutiny Officer agreed to circulate information to members.