The Courts and Tribunals Judiciary (CTJ) has updated the local guidance page for Birmingham Business and Property Courts (BPC) to state what local guidance currently applies. This includes the introduction of a pilot listing policy aimed at assisting Birmingham BPC judges, court users and court staff. The pilot will run for six months and will be kept under review. The guidance also touches, amongst others, on the judges of the BPC, early hearings of applications before the BPC, the designated listing officer and chancery financial dispute resolution hearings.

The Courts and Tribunals Judiciary (CTJ) has published updated versions of the 11th edition of the Commercial Court Guide and the 2022 edition of the Circuit Commercial Court Guide.

The Courts and Tribunals Judiciary (CTJ) has published the Commercial Court Annual Report 2024–25, covering the work of the Commercial Court, Admiralty Court and the London Circuit Commercial Courts. The report states that the volume of new claims remained broadly stable, with 1,140 claims issued compared to 1,174 in the previous year. However, the number of hearings listed and heard in the Commercial Court declined slightly, with 1,091 hearings listed and 773 effective hearings, compared with 1,251 and 884 respectively in the preceding year. In relation to arbitration, the report notes that the Arbitration Act 2025, which updates the 1996 version came into force. Additionally, arbitration accounted for around 30% of the Commercial Court’s work. The court’s caseload remains international with 75% of cases involving parties or subject matter outside the UK.

Counter Terrorism Plan

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) has called for government funding in the forthcoming budget and legislative changes to address organised crime on UK high streets. CTSI requests long-term funding for multi-agency initiatives, strengthened enforcement powers including permanent shop closures, and improved intelligence sharing between agencies. The institute seeks specific legislative amendments including expanded powers for Local Authority Trading Standards to require identification, strengthened Closure Orders, amendments to Criminal Behaviour Orders and alignment of Scotland's Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 with the rest of the UK.

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) has issued a warning about unregulated aesthetic procedures and called for immediate regulatory reform. The institute identified widespread unsafe practices including procedures being performed in pop-up shops and public toilets, with particular concerns about unregulated fat dissolving injections. Following a death in September 2024 linked to a Brazilian Butt Lift procedure, CTSI is advocating for a national licensing scheme, establishment of a ministerial task force, extension of underage legislation across the UK and removal of unsafe products from online marketplaces. The institute highlighted that most injectable aesthetic services currently operate without regulatory oversight.

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) has published a report, ‘Mind the Gap Between the Chain and the Platform’, in which it calls for a windfall tax on online marketplaces to be introduced to fund measures that help safeguard consumers when buying products online. The report posits that dangerous products for sale by third-party sellers on online marketplaces put consumers at risk and that legislation designed for bricks-and-mortar retailers is not fit for purpose in the digital age. The CTSI has called for new measures to be introduced to ensure its relevance to contemporary shopping habits.

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) has reported that it is ‘deeply disappointed’ by the government’s decision to scrap the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill. The CTSI Lead Officer for Animal Health and Welfare has said ‘whilst recognising that the Kept Animals Bill was not the panacea to resolving several concerns regarding the laws for protecting animal welfare, the law, if enacted would have strengthened some of the existing rules. It is disappointing that the Bill has been dropped and it is hoped that government will continue conversations with all organisations with an interest in animal health and welfare to look for alternative ways that some of the proposals in the Kept Animals Bill can be made.’ The CTSI has said that it remains committed to campaigning for the inclusion of these safeguarding measures in legislation, and as it still wants to see the welfare issues addressed, it will be raising questions to the government on the next steps.

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) has published its Annual Review for 2024-25, reporting contributions to the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, Product Regulation and Legal Metrology Act and Tobacco & Vapes Bill. The review shows 10% membership growth, over 630,000 hours of continuing professional development delivered and more than £2m recovered for consumers through its Approved Code Scheme.

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) has published its manifesto for the next UK government, highlighting measures to protect consumers and tackle criminals. The manifesto, titled ‘Helping Local Communities and Businesses to Prosper’, proposes stronger protections at the UK’s ports and borders, school lessons on consumers’ rights, licensing of tradespeople involved in the green energy sector and appointment of a ‘Consumer Champion’ in the government.

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) and the Anti-Counterfeiting Group (ACG) have published a report assessing serious and organised crime (SOC) on UK high streets and proposing a ten-point plan to address it. The report identifies SOC as a widespread and growing threat, costing at least £47bn annually and increasingly operating through seemingly legitimate retail premises to sell illegal goods, launder money, and facilitate wider criminal activity, thereby harming consumers, undermining lawful businesses, and reducing tax revenues. It finds that Trading Standards services play a key supporting enforcement role but face constraints from limited resources, inconsistent intelligence sharing, and insufficient powers, while current multi-agency arrangements lack coordination. The report also highlights the national scale of the issue, linked to international supply chains and border vulnerabilities. It recommends increased investment in enforcement agencies, strengthened partnership working and intelligence sharing, enhanced legal and enforcement powers, improved border controls, action against complicit landlords, and measures to reduce consumer demand for illicit goods, to enable a more effective, coordinated response to SOC.

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) has published their response to the government's consultation response on making online shopping safer for UK consumers. The consultation, issued by the Department for Business and Trade, sought to protect consumers 'from fake reviews and unfair pricing' and extend Trading Standard provisions to remove harmful online content, strengthening the provisions in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill. The CTSI has said in their response that the government's consultation response 'extends powers to Trading Standards to apply to the courts with an online interface order to remove content and websites that are misleading consumers'. The CTSI also seeks to improve effectiveness of powers for Trading Standards officers to extend powers beyond UK borders and powers to tackle rogue traders.