Details have emerged of a plans for trusted trader scheme by Highland Council.
The council says it will strengthen the consumer protection system in the Highlands, and create ‘significant benefits’ for both consumers and reputable traders in the region.
The scheme would be handled by the council’s Trading Standards (TS) team, and involve the appointment of two new trading standards officer on a fixed one year contract to administer the scheme.
TS would vet the businesses on the scheme, based on their high level of reliability.
In the case of problems arising between a trader and consumer, TS would mediate and broker a solution.
Income to cover the scheme would be generate by member businesses paying an annual fee to be included.
The business case for the scheme currently being scrutinised by councillors before Wednesday’s corporate resources committee when they will vote to approve it.
It states that the council’s current contracts register lists contracts with a total value of ‘well over’ half a billion pounds, including £100m of contracts for ‘personal transportation.’
TS says its experience in the taxi sector will conduct and analysis of this spend ‘with a view to assessing performance and identifying improvements.’
The business case includes monitoring of the scheme, product safety and certification, protecting the intellectual property of the council, taxis and transportation.
It’s hoped the scheme will be ready to market in a year’s time.