Shock as North East Lincolnshire Council found to not use closure orders against rogue shops

Melanie Onn MP has questioned the North East Lincolnshire Council leadership's approach to tackling “dodgy shops” after a Freedom of Information response to a local resident revealed that the Council does not currently use Closure Orders in relation to tobacco and vape retailers.

The issue was raised after a constituent shared the FoI response with Melanie, prompting concerns about the range of enforcement tools being deployed to address suspected illegal trading activity on local high streets.

The disclosure comes shortly after Dudley Council reported issuing more than 40 Closure Orders as part of an ongoing crackdown on rogue retail premises.

Melanie recently successfully pushed the Government to provide local authorities and enforcement agencies with new powers and support to tackle these issues, most importantly the power to issue 12 month closure orders, allowing police and Trading Standards to have 12 months to prosecute dodgy shop owners whilst keeping the shops closed.

Other recent government measures to tackle the issue include £11 million in National Crime Agency funding to establish a new coordinating and intelligence cell under Operation Machinize, designed to improve multi-agency enforcement against organised retail crime.

Additional funding pots have also been made available to support police forces, local authorities, and Trading Standards teams in undertaking enforcement activity against illicit goods and criminal premises.

Melanie Onn, the MP for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes, said:

“Residents repeatedly ask me why we continue to see suspicious shops operating on our high streets.

“Dudley Council has issued over 40 closure orders in recent years. And yet our new Council leadership wrote to me complaining that the new powers from Government aren’t enough. They are enough for Dudley Council, so why aren’t they good enough here?

“Our Trading Standards teams do an excellent and difficult job in challenging circumstances, often with limited resources. The question is whether those teams are being given the full backing and direction needed to take the strongest possible action.

“Local authorities already have significant powers available to them. But is there the will to use every tool at their disposal to stop these premises from operating?”