15 June 2012 HL Written Questions
Parliamentary Questions
Pedlar stakeholders have been awaiting an outcome of government consultation on draft Street Trading and Pedlary legislation for some twelve months. The previous government policy proposal URN 09/1074 contained ‘preservation and amendment’ of the Pedlars Act but currently that policy has been changed in URN 11/542 away from ‘preservation and amendment’ into ‘deregulation and repeal’ of the Pedlars Act and without any substantive consultation with the stakeholder pedlars most effected by this proposed change in policy.
Pedlars contend that HMG’s attempt at justification is unsafe and diminishes the identity of pedlars known in common law for a long time and now protected by the statute of the Pedlars Act. The justification on grounds of ‘residency and good character’ rely on a BIS misinterpretation of the spirit of intent of the Services Directive, the SD. It is noteworthy that the erroneous removal of protection for ‘chair-menders and handicraft persons’ from the Pedlars Act also relied on the BIS misinterpretation of the SD that led to the removal of chair-menders etc.
Pedlars are uneasy about the lack of progress made by ministers because of ministerial protocols not allowing government to be transparent when stakeholders are in consultation about draft legislation prior to public release. Pedlars have been inwardly consulting to assist government on the most helpful way forward and last week submitted proposals to the Under Secretary for State at BIS, Norman Lamb MP with proposed legislative amendments. These together with various correspondence have been published on the pedlars information portal.
Pedlars are now extending this internal consultation to help refine the text for clarity and accuracy and to bring legislation into modern parlance reflecting recent parliamentary debates, hearings and reports.
Pedlars submit draft legislative proposals compatible with the Services Directive, the Human Rights Act and the several private Acts that have achieved assent during the past decade.
The main components include the description of a pedlar in the Pedlars Act and the exemption for pedlary in the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act and the London Local Authorities Act.
Pedlars Act
Section 3
The term “pedlar” means any hawker, pedlar, petty chapman, tinker, caster of metals, mender of chairs, or other person who, without any horse or other beat bearing or drawing burden, travels and trades on foot and goes from town to town or to other men’s houses, carrying to sell or exposing for sale any goods, wares, or merchandise, or procuring orders for goods, wares, or merchandise immediately to be delivered, or selling or offering for sale his skill in handicraft;
Pedlar’s proposed amendment 5 June 2012:
The term “pedlar” means any person who,without scale and proportion of means that are greater than those of a pedestrian, travels and trades on foot and goes from place to place as an ambulant trader carrying to sell or exposing for sale any goods, wares, or merchandise, or procuring orders for goods, wares, or merchandise immediately to be delivered, or offering for sale his skill in handicraft;
This substantive amendment has consequential and other amendments as attached or as indicated at pedlars.info.
Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982
Schedule 4 Section 1
(2) The following are not street trading for the purposes of this Schedule-
(a) trading by a person acting as a pedlar under the authority of a pedlar’s certificate granted under the Pedlars Act 1871
Pedlar’s proposed amendment 5 June 2012:
at the end of 2(a) above the following words are inserted:
if the trading is carried out only by means of visits from house to house, subject to the following mode of operation-
i. the means of visits from house to house are ambulant means of trading as distinct from static means of trading,
ii. trading at any premises adjoining a street or in any public place including a street,
iii. not being restricted by designation of streets for licensed street trading,
iv. goods or tools of handicraft being carried on the person or in a carrying device of a pedestrian
scale and proportion which is pushed or pulled by the person,
v. subject to not remaining in one static position whilst not engaged in continuous trading,
vi. not requiring a street trader’s licence to trade in the street
vii. not requiring a certificate for door to door sales under the value of £35
viii. foodstuff trading to require current registration with local Environmental Health Department,
This substantive amendment has consequential and other amendments as attached or as indicated at pedlars.info.
London Local Authorities Act 2004
Section 20 Street Trading
Amendments to Part III (Street Trading) of the London Local Authorities Act 1990;
Section 21 (Interpretation of Part III)
2 In subsection (2) of Section 21-
(a) in paragraph (a), at the end, the words “, if the trading is carried out only by means of visits from house to house” are
inserted
Pedlar’s proposed amendment 5 June 2012:
at the end of 2(a) following the word house” the following words are inserted:
and subject to the following mode of operation-
i. the means of visits from house to house are ambulant means of trading as distinct from static means of trading,
ii. trading at any premises adjoining a street or in any public place including a street,
iii. not being restricted by designation of streets for licensed street trading,
iv. goods or tools of handicraft being carried on the person or in a carrying device of a pedestrian
scale and proportion which is pushed or pulled by the person,
v. subject to not remaining in one static position whilst not engaged in continuous trading,
vi. not requiring a street trader’s licence to trade in the street
vii. not requiring a certificate for door to door sales under the value of £35
viii. foodstuff trading to require current registration with local Environmental Health Department,
This substantive amendment has consequential and other amendments within the LGMPA document above.
We at pedlars.info are aware of the House of Commons Library Copy of “Regulation of Street Traders and Pedlars” in which Baroness Wilcox responds to Parliamentary Questions 20 July 2010. This is a most helpful document for all concerned.
Parliamentary Questions:
1 To ask HMG whether it has carried out an Impact Assessment on pedlars in regard to deregulation of pedlary and repeal of the Pedlars Act.
2 To ask HMG why all stakeholders were not consulted about the u-turn in policy from 2009 (URN 09/1074) of amending the Pedlars Act to that in 2011 (URN 11/542) of repealing the Pedlars Act.
3 To ask HMG to consider pedlar’s alternative draft amendments (as set out in the attachments) and proposed by those stakeholders (pedlars) most directly affected by changes to this legislation.
4 To ask HMG to formally include the pedlar draft amendments to statutes (as set out on-line) together with the forthcoming government draft legislation with clear justification that the cultural identity of pedlary can be preserved within statute whilst being compatible with the SD and that this does not “restrict the freedom to provide services [pedlary] by applying criminal law provisions [Street Trading Regulation] which specifically regulate or affect [pedlars] access to or exercise of a service activity…” (Article 3.5 Services Directive).
5 To ask HMG when to expect a substantive reply to written questions 21 July 2010.
Pedlars contend that the policy of repeal will inevitably be in conflict with the SD Article 3.5 amongst others.
As noted in communications to the Under Secretary of State for BIS pedlars.info is now consulting with the pedlar fraternity about the suitability of these amendments.
Robert Campbell-Lloyd
15 June 2012
Roll B Parliamentary Agent