[Report 1971] / Chief Inspector of Weights and Measures, Nottinghamshire County Council and Beeston & Stapleford U.D.C.

  • Nottinghamshire County Council
Date:
1971
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1971] / Chief Inspector of Weights and Measures, Nottinghamshire County Council and Beeston & Stapleford U.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    6 prosecutions were instituted and completed during the year. A number of others were pending at the time the year closed. Consumer Advisory Services 802 complaints were received from members of the public, summarised in the following categories: Motor vehicles, caravans, motor boats, tyres, accessories, etc. 149 Furniture, furnishing goods, carpets, etc. 30 Petrol, oils, etc. 10 Cut-price offers, trading stamps, overcharging, etc. 88 Television, radio, refrigerators, etc. 12 Heavy bulk goods, e.g. solid and liquid fuels, top soil, turf, etc. 36 House repairs and extensions, central heating, etc. 30 Household appliances, e.g. gas and electric fires, storage heaters, washing machines, food mixers, sewing machines, etc. 29 Clothing and fabrics 35 Package holidays 11 Services, e.g. maintenance and repair contracts, etc. 71 Sports goods, toys, etc. 7 Mail Order goods 15 Food: description and quality 125 Various goods: weight, measure or number 79 Miscellaneous 75 Some of the complaints were clearly of doubtful merit, mostly from persons who had made a bad bargain in an otherwise straightforward deal and could usually be quickly disposed-of. Many however justified full investigation which, in a considerable number of cases proved to be both difficult and time-consuming. Where offences were revealed, prosecutions were instituted where it was considered that the public interest justified this course and in a considerable number of others official warnings were issued. From the complainants' point of view probably the most rewarding feature was that in most cases where it was justified our investigations resulted in civil redress (substantial in some cases!) being obtained. Consumer Protection Acts The County Council has a duty to enforce the undermentioned regulations throughout the County with the exception of the Urban District of Beeston and Stapleford (population over 60,000) but by arrangement between the County Council and the Urban District Council your Inspectors also act for that Authority. A serious defect in this legislation during the year was that there was no provision for passing back criminal responsibility for retail offences to blameworthy manufacturers or importers. The result was that the retailer, who normally bought and sold the article in good faith, was usually the only party against whom a prosecution could be brought. This has now been remedied by an amending Act and it is thought that importers and manufacturers will in future be much more careful than they have been hitherto. Toys (Safety) Regulations These regulations impose requirements in relation to toys to prevent or to reduce risk of death or injury to children. Serious accidents have resulted from the use of dangerous materials and the regulations, among other things, prohibit the use of paint containing harmful proportions of lead, arsenic, soluble antimony, barium, cadmium or chromium and the use of celluloid in the construction of toys. Your Inspectors have made 95 special visits of inspection and examined large numbers of toys offered for sale. 31 suspected items were subjected to analysis. 4 items failed to comply with the regulations. Stocks of the latter were immediately removed from retailers' premises by the importers or manufacturers who undertook to destroy them. The importers or manufacturers were cautioned and a description of the toys circulated to other authorities. -11-
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