From when I came down to meet you lovely guys, I know you guys don't get a cart out much, if at all, so the following may be useful, but do keep it in mind.

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Considering our EPIC WIN of when we were able to troll the Stress Test Cart because they had it out on a protest day, we have made some research into the issue of the cart being out.

Close was the first person to find that they are not allowed to be out on Market Street. This allowed me to be able to find the information on the law regarding street trading.

The upshot is, if they are in any of the places listed below, they can be arrested, charged and prosecuted, with the result being a maximum fine of £1,000. (source)

* New Cathedral Street
* St Ann's Square / Exchange Street
* Exchange Square
* King Street (pedestrian area)
* Market Street
* Piccadilly
* St Mary's Gate
* Millennium Quarter

The basics that would apply to the cart being out on the above streets are as follows;

Schedule 1, Paragraph 1 states;
* In this Schedule [...] “street trading” means, subject to sub-paragraph (2) below, the selling or exposing or offering for sale of any article (including a living thing) in a street.

Schedule 4, Paragraph 10.1.a states;
* A person who [...] engages in street trading in a prohibited street [...] shall be guilty of an offence.

Schedule 4, Paragraph 10.4 states;
* A person guilty of an offence under this paragraph shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale. [GLEEB'S NOTE: Maximum fine is £1,000]


The basics that would apply to the cart being out on any other street are as follows;

Schedule 1, Paragraph 1 states;
* In this Schedule [...] “street trading” means, subject to sub-paragraph (2) below, the selling or exposing or offering for sale of any article (including a living thing) in a street.

Schedule 4, Paragraph 10.1.d states;
* A person who [...] being authorised by a street trading consent to trade in a consent street, trades in that street [...] from a stationary van, cart, barrow or other vehicle; or [...] from a portable stall without first having been granted permission to do so under paragraph 7(8) above [...] shall be guilty of an offence.

Schedule 4, Paragraph 7.8 states;
* The council may include in a street trading consent permission for its holder to trade in a consent street [...] from a stationary van, cart, barrow or other vehicle; or [...] from a portable stall. [GLEEB'S NOTE: I believe the cart falls under this definition]

Schedule 4, Paragraph 10.4 states;
* A person guilty of an offence under this paragraph shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale. [GLEEB'S NOTE: Maximum fine is £1,000]


So, make sure you make a note of the information I've given here, and try the following when you see the cart;

* If you can, contact any anonymous you are aware of. My e-mail is [REDACTED]. Contact me, and I will contact out strike team.

* Attract the attention of a Council Street Warden and ask them about the cart in relation to the above information. EXAMPLE: Say to the Street Warden "I believe that the Dianetics cart is engaged in Street Trading in a Prohibited Street. Are you able to take appropriate action to stop this?"

* If this fails, call [REDACTED] or [REDACTED], asking to speak to a Compliance Officer regarding Street Trading. Should there be no-one available, [REDACTED] has been made aware of the issue and can also be contacted on those numbers.

* As a last resort, you can involve the Police. This street trading is illegal, and the Police are paid to enforce the law.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO DOCUMENT AS MUCH AS YOU CAN

I would believe so too.

tl;dr: If we see a stress test cart out on one of those streets, we contact our friendly neighbourhood anonymous?

Those streets apply to Manchester only, if I understand it right - I'd assume we'll need to check for local ones.

1(1)In this Schedule—

*

“consent street” means a street in which street trading is prohibited without the consent of the district council;
*

“licence street” means a street in which street trading is prohibited without a licence granted by the district council;
*

“principal terms”, in relation to a street trading licence, has the meaning assigned to it by paragraph 4(3) below;
*

“prohibited street” means a street in which street trading is prohibited;
*

“street” includes—
(a)

any road, footway, beach or other area to which the public have access without payment; and
(B)

a service area as defined in section 329 of the M1Highways Act 1980,

and also includes any part of a street;

*

“street trading” means, subject to sub-paragraph (2) below, the selling or exposing or offering for sale of any article (including a living thing) in a street; and
*

“subsidiary terms”, in relation to a street trading licence, has the meaning assigned to it by paragraph 4(4) below.

Assuming that the stress test stuff constitutes street trading (I haven't been out to see them do it), this should apply:

From http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/markets.bcc:

Birmingham Council Street Trading Guidance

For full details, see http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/GenerateConte...0&MENU_ID=10775

Monthly charges

Charges can be several hundred pounds a month - more than the CoS makes hawking Dianetics maybe? See http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/GenerateConte...83&EXPAND=10775

So they are breaking the law in brum. Great!

I don't think that what they're doing is illegal, based off that. They do not sell anything on the street, they give things away for free, which they can do under the charity exception mentioned above. I've never yet heard of them trying to sell anything on the street, as they tend to invite people inside to try and sell Dianetics etc.

not when they have a table set up going round brum. they sell things of the back off the stress test.

I can't say I've ever seen our lot go out with a table or anything of the sort.

So what do they do when they go round places like Northfield and Walsall then?

Never seen/heard of them there myself.
Also, different area, different laws; each local council can apply their own bylaws - the ones above only apply to Birmingham streets, so Walsall will be a different lot - might still apply, but'll need checking.

Walsall:

http://www.walsall.gov.uk/index/street_trading.htm

Designations depend on the area and street. Streets may be specifically licensed or prohibited, and any not mentioned are subject to 'consent'. They've included a PDF with the details of the areas and designations.

They mention a street trading review intended to simplify things asking for input by 20th June 2008. Although the web page itself is dated Aug '08, if the findings of the review were incorporated I'd guess the review link wouldn't be shown there.


Northfield:

Appears to be a ward/constituency of Brum Council, but I think this either needs more research by someone who knows the area, or checking directly with the Council as to whether or not the statement "All streets in Birmingham have been designated as ‘consent’ streets" applies, or is intended only to cover Brum city centre. As long as this is right, contact details would be as in the earlier post.