Three UK Councils Launch 'Trusted Trades' Registers to Tackle Rogue Doorstep Dealers
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29 October 2026
Three councils are stepping up efforts to protect residents from rogue and cowboy traders by launching or backing approved-trader registers in the last 12 months. In March 2023, East Renfrewshire Council in Scotland, and Moray Council in the Scottish Highlands, both joined the battle against doorstep fraud by setting up systems to vet tradesmen and connect homeowners with safer contractors.
The Scam Problem
The situation is serious, and the stakes are high. According to Moray Trading Standards, the council dealt with 100 complaints about unsatisfactory or incomplete home improvement work since 2020, costing a conservative £550,000. Even if each job were a small one, that averages at least £5,500 per household. Worse still, most scam victims are elderly and vulnerable, often tricked after a cold visit. And the longer you leave bad work, the more expensive fixing it gets. In March 2023, the Moray Council's Trading Standards officer warned that the approved tradesperson register - under preparation with trade directory firm Trusted Services Scotland since 2021 - was an urgent priority.
How the Schemes Work
The list of poor-quality tradespeople is long and the project is complex, and agencies including Which? Trusted Traders, Trust Mark, the approved Buying with Confidence scheme, and local authority vetting schemes are all now involved. For consumers, the result is a new tier of information. These websites don't just list qualified and reputable firms - they also provide online ratings you can trust to be up-to-date, collect feedback on future jobs, and escalate complaints directly to the Trading Standards agency for resolution.
Courses are being run too, helping residents know the difference between genuine and fraudulent tradespeople quotes, and the right questions to ask. What are their opening hours? Do they give you a full address and phone number? Do they give you an invoice on letterhead with their business name, address, VAT number and details of their insurance?
Local Initiatives
Enough of the details, what people wanted was a name-check of local authority pilot schemes. The work in Moray Council and East Renfrewshire is ongoing, but a 2023 Scottish Government Scotland Customer Satisfaction Survey report cited a number of local initiatives that would fit the approved-trader bill:
Trusted Trader reports: Quality control and public access
Buy with Confidence had 91,720 visits in 2021. 86% of self-selected customers said they were guided to a trusted trader, up from 81% in 2020 - a 5% increase.
The Edinburgh City Council Trusted Trader scheme grew from 92 traders in 2015 to over 267 by 2022, promoting Consumer codes, TrustMark services or membership with Which? Trusted Trader backed by the council's business support services.
A total of 11,632 consumers gave feedback in that time, with 84.4% awarded 5 stars. The scheme referred just 11 cases of alternative dispute resolution, with 70% fully resolved, and 40% solved.
The Business Gateway trading standards advice page was accessed 61,600 times, while 44,600 consumers viewed alert advice on safe-and-dodgy-trade twitters each year.
These ongoing pilots are the latest in a long line - the West Midlands Local Authority Trading Standards pilot, for rogue traders, doorstep scams and more, was first launched in 2006 at Solihull Council, and all its home improvement referrals happened within a four-person team, including a seconded police officer briefing tasks across county borders.
And it is clear that these schemes deprive the cowboy of his prey. The notification tweet that the Trader had left his mark was still live on 8 September 2023, six months after the Edinburgh trader referral. Much to the trader's annoyance.