28 January 2016 – Swindon PSPO prohibition
In November 2015 Swindon Borough Council introduced a PSPO that prohibits pedlary.
The following is a chronology of communications that remain unresolved.
Scroll to the bottom to begin the communication.
On 2 June 2016 pedlars.info wrote:
Dear Mr Ash
Swindon Borough Council PSPO
I note that we have received no response to our enquiry to date.
You had undertaken to provide a full and considered response and we need to inform pedlars about their lawful rights to trade in Swindon under a national Pedlars Certificate.
You said that you referred our correspondence to “appropriate people” and in the absence of your reply please now confirm the names together with contact details for same.
The PSPO document asserts its primacy over the Pedlars Act and we ask if Swindon Borough Council asserts that authority.
It is of public interest to be informed about what authority Swindon Borough Council relies upon to alter the effect of the national Pedlars Act.
Your (or the appropriate people’s) precise response to this inquiry is a welcome alternative to argument through courts of law.
Yours sincerely
Robert Campbell-Lloyd
admin at pedlars.info
We refer you to a recent Press Release on the subject.
On 7 March 2016 Swindon’s Michael Ash wrote:
Dear Mr Campbell-Lloyd,
My apologies that to date you have not received a response. I can confirm that your enquiry has been referred to the appropriate people who are dealing with the implementation of the Order and will respond as soon as possible. You raise a number of detailed questions, it is important that we give you a full and considered response, which we will send as soon as practically possible.
Yours sincerely
Michael Ash
Head of Housing and Community Safety
Swindon Borough Council
On 07 March 2016 pedlars.info wrote:
Dear Mr Ash
You will recall my email 28 January below.
As a matter of public importance please respond or refer us to a competent officer to deal with the issue raised.
yours sincerely
Robert Campbell-Lloyd
On 28 January 2016 pedlars.info wrote:
Dear Mr Ash
Swindon Borough Council – PSPO
It has come to our attention that on the 9 November 2015 you signed the PSPO.
We trust that you are the competent officer to address our enquiry and if not please confirm the appropriate person.
The PSPO Item 4 states: Peddling/Street Trading
“Any person is prohibited from, at anytime, peddling/trading goods without the written permission of the authority, even if licensed”.
We are concerned that neither government nor pedlars were consulted.
As you know the national Pedlars Act concerns all pedlars throughout the United Kingdom and likewise any ‘restraint of trade” Order on authorised/legitimate traders. You will be aware that pedlary is an ‘exempt trading activity’ within the adopted LG(MP)A because it is self-regulating as a civil activity.
You will know that the most recent attempt by government to repeal the Pedlars Act failed and that the BIS attempt to restrict & regulate pedlars within Street Trading Legislation also failed so it seems surprising that the PSPO may be a local attempt to restrict pedlary. Such intent would be in direct conflict with the LG(MP)A.
The PSPO may be considered an attempt to circumvent the national Pedlars Act, a civil liberty for 50 million adults in the UK, by the use of criminal sanction that infringes Article 1 of the European Services Directive implemented into UK legislation in 2009 –
“Member States may not restrict the freedom to provide services by applying criminal law provisions which specifically regulate or affect access to or exercise of a service activity…”.
The Order affects any pedlar who trades under the authority of a nation wide Pedlars Certificate and as such entitled to lawfully trade throughout what the PSPO refers to as ‘the restricted area’.
Please confirm that this concern will be drawn to the attention of all relevant persons in Swindon Borough Council and that action will be taken at the earliest convenience to address stakeholders concerns.
In the meantime pedlars.info would like to publish an assurance to genuine pedlars that your authorised officers have been informed that item 4 is unsafe and that genuine pedlars acting as such under the authority of the Pedlars Act will be granted every courtesy whilst trading in Swindon.
We look forward to your earliest response.
Yours sincerely
Robert Campbell-Lloyd
Note: pedlars.info is a not for profit open information portal that publishes relevant communications online to assist regulators and the regulated.
Since the first public conference on Pedlary in the City of London 5th December 2015 pedlars.info has begun working towards a “Guidance for Pedlars” document to assist government and all interested parties. We welcome your participation to ensure clear understanding of the Principles that differentiate Certified Pedlary and Designated/Licensed/Consent/Prohibited Street Trading.