Nine authorities attended an information meeting hosted by Birmingham to consider promoting local legislation to deal with the problem of pedlars and unlawful street trading. Other authorities have expressed an interest but could not be present at the meeting. Whether any or all of the authorities concerned decide to go ahead and promote local legislation in the current year remains to be seen but the timetable is very tight with the procedural requirements having to be complied with before the Bill is deposited by 27th November at latest. Most authorities present at the meeting indicated if they proceed they will follow the recent local legislation enacted by Leicester, Maidstone and Liverpool but at least one authority also indicated that they had an interest in introducing legislation to deal with “touting”. If several authorities do decide to proceed then there are cost benefits in sharing the arrangements and it will be helpful to designate one of the authorities as a lead authority. Anyone interested in pursuing local legislation is asked to notify Nabma within the next two/three weeks so that another meeting can be arranged to proceed with the arrangements. Even if your authority cannot proceed this year but would be interested n pursuing local legislation next year then it is important that interest is identified so that the necessary evidence and preparation can be undertaken in good time. The issue will be raised at the Nabma conference to give members an opportunity of being brought up to date.