1.0       Refusal of Membership

1.1             The Trading Standards Service reserves the right to refuse membership to any

            applicant which it feels does not satisfy the criteria laid down in the Terms of

            Membership.  It may, as an alternative to refusal, impose certain conditions that

            need to be satisfied prior to acceptance of membership.

1.2             Should membership be refused you will have the right of appeal, which must be

            made in writing within 28 days to the Head of the Trading Standards Service,

            whose decision shall be final.

1.3             The results of the appeals process shall be communicated to you within 28

            working days from the receipt of your appeal.

2.0       Revocation of Membership and other Disciplinary Measures:

             2.1       The Trading Standards Service reserves the right to revoke membership:

(a)       Should there be a significant breach of the terms of membership.

(b)               If there is a change in relevant circumstances for the business which may

            affect their approval.  These may include, but are not limited to; changes to

            senior staff, changes of suppliers, new products or services, new premises,

            convictions and county court judgement. Such changes may result in a

            revocation of membership or and need to reapply for membership. The

            Trading Standards Service will assess this application and the process

            may include, at its discretion, a further audit.

(c)        Upon information supplied by any other regulatory agency (or similar)

            which casts doubt upon the suitability of any particular business to be a

            member.

2.2       Without prejudice to paragraph 2.1 above, the Trading Standards Service may

             decide to suspend membership until such time as a full investigation can be

             concluded. It may also suspend membership in order to monitor whether a

             particular business remains suitable for inclusion within the Scheme.

2.3       Where membership is suspended or revoked the Trading Standards Service

             will provide the member with a written explanation of the reason for its action.

2.4       As an alternative to suspension or revocation of membership the Trading

            Standards Service reserves the right, where considered appropriate, to

            implement other disciplinary measures (for example, a written warning or by

            reducing the interval between subsequent audits).

3.0       Appeals against Suspension or Revocation of Membership:

3.1       An appeals procedure exists and any member wishing to take advantage

            of this procedure should write to The Head of their approving Trading

            Standards Authority within 28 days.

3.2       Appeals will be assessed by an Independent Review and Appeal Panel

            consisting of three members.  These members will be independent of the

            scheme operator.

3.3       Appeals will be conducted in writing although in exceptional circumstances an

appeal may be conducted by way of a personal hearing.

3.4       The results of the appeal will be communicated to the scheme member, in

 writing, within 28 days from receipt of your appeal.

3.5       The decision of the Appeals Panel will be binding on both parties concerned.

3.6       There will be no cost to the member for the appeals process.

3.7       If the appeal is not upheld and membership is revoked, then all certificates and documentation indicating membership of the scheme shall be returned to the

            authority within 14 days. In such circumstances all logos must be removed from

            stationery, vehicles, advertisements etc. and customers responding to

            advertisements on the basis of the logo e.g. via Yellow Pages must be informed

           of the withdrawal of approval.