An organisation representing professionals in trading standards jobs has called on local authorities to ensure that they do not cut back on funding for their departments.
The Trading Standards Institute (TSI) has published a manifesto in which it states that the budgets for those working in the sector are already under pressure, with further cuts looking likely.
In a survey of staff in trading standards jobs, 62 per cent of respondents said there were services that they are currently unable to provide to the public due to budgetary restrictions.
Ron Gainsford, chief executive of the TSI, said that it was important budgets were not reduced any further.
"Continuing to salami-slice trading standards is truly a false economy in the long run and paves the way for major incidents such as the foot and mouth outbreak … to become more likely," he stated.
Last month, Conservative councillor Andre Gonzalez de Savage pledged that the trading standards department in Northamptonshire Council would not be made subject to severe cuts, reported the Northampton Chronicle & Echo.
