Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to ensure trading standards representatives can access the information from (a) companies and (b) individuals they need.

Schedule 5 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 provides Trading Standards and other enforcers a power to request information by notice from any person – this includes requesting information from firms and individuals.

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill further strengthens these powers by adding provision for the imposition of penalties for non-compliance with an information request.