......but, incredibly, say they can't afford to prosecute after savage cuts?


This is the fraudster that trading standards officials suspect of targeting the elderly and vulnerable – but say they cannot afford to fully investigate. Frank Madden has a history of preying on people in the market for timeshares and holiday clubs. He was convicted for offences under the Timeshare and Consumer Credit Acts by Poole Trading Standards in 2001, but continued to carry out his activities, despite being banned from being a director. In July 2012 he pleaded guilty at Southampton Crown Court to eight sample offences. He was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years and a curfew order. Trading standards officials believe that being on a suspended sentence did not stop him – but, astonishingly, they admit that a lack of money means they cannot afford to bring a prosecution without extra funding. And the watchdog’s chief executive warns that years of drastic budget cuts to trading standards departments across Britain mean that officers often no longer have the time or the resources to prosecute offenders, leaving the public at greater risk of con men.

The service has been weakened more in some regions than others, creating a ‘postcode lottery’. It means that criminals target people in areas where departments have been reduced the most. They are funded by local authorities, which are cutting budgets and making tough funding decisions. Trading standards departments have seen their budgets slashed by an average of 40 per cent since 2010, while the number of staff has halved over the past five years. Many experienced employees have been lost to redundancy programmes. Earlier this month, Liverpool City Council agreed to reconsider its decision to cut trading standards staff from 19 to four after a Judicial Review found that it would mean that services might not meet minimum legal requirements. Chief executive of the Trading Standards Institute Leon Livermore warned: ‘The deep cuts to trading standards have left their ability to protect citizens and honest businesses dangerously compromised in many parts of the country.’....Read more here