NEWS & VIEWS
Fighting the news good fight extra
When does competition become unfair? Jon Smith has pondered this question for some time. He owns Big Heart Tree Care, a business he is proud to describe as ‘small and simple’ because he believes in offering a professional, yet personal service to his clients. Having qualified from Sparsholt College and worked for others, Jon launched his firm in 2015. He now works with two
TREE SURGEON JON SMITH IS CHALLENGING HIS LOCAL AUTHORITY OVER ITS COMPETING TREE WORK SERVICES – A SCENARIO THAT COULD HAVE IMPLICATIONS FOR MANY SMALL BUSINESSES UNDER THREAT – RACHEL GORDON REPORTS
authorities are under the financial cosh. The government’s aim is to make them become more like commercial entities and achieve self-sufficiency. But, what if this activity damages smaller local firms unable to operate on the same scale? This is the crux of Jon’s argument. Councils are able to offer paid-for services to their residents and Reading has in fact been
council’s services were advertised on the webpage used by residents to check for constraints on trees – and that this facility was not available to any other independent tree care provider. Jon speaks out Jon became aware of a fall-off in new business enquiries and he was finding it harder to recruit – tree surgeons, it seemed, were
Jon has developed a strong reputation in his local area and is passionate about preserving wildlife as part of his business ethos self-employed colleagues that he has the utmost faith in to uphold the strong reputation he has built in his local area. He is passionate about preserving wildlife as part of his business ethos and with such a philosophy, it would seem little could go wrong. However, Jon, along with others in the region, is facing dwindling levels of business because of a competitor – Reading Borough Council. Austerity and commercialisation No one needs reminding that local
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offering tree care as a business for some three years. But, Jon felt compelled to act, when the council appeared to be ramping up its marketing of domestic and commercial tree care work. In a leaflet he received from the council, he read: “Our Arboricultural Services are competitively priced,” and it went on to describe staff as “expertly skilled and professional and able to deliver consistency and unrivalled levels of service.” Next, he discovered the
choosing to work for the local authority which he says is able to pay higher wages and offer better ‘public sector’ hours and benefits. In March, Jon decided enough was enough and contacted Reading Council’s Complaints’ Team, asking the following questions: • Was the council’s activities in line with competition law? • Were public funds being used to market their services? • Did the council accept that small firms were being
damaged as a result? • Was the council attempting to monopolise the market? The council responds A month later Jon received a reply from David Moore, the Neighbourhood Services Manager. He said he understood the nub of the complaint was that Reading was “subsidising a commercial business using public funds and this put businesses without access to public money at a disadvantage.” The council disputed this, claiming it was entitled to charge for “discretionary services” under legislation, including the Local Government Acts and the Localism Act. It stated services were funded from the income received for them and not via council tax. It was also said that there were numerous benefits from providing paidfor work to residents, including “proactive tree management”. Somewhat defensively, it stated the council was “not alone in focusing on opportunities to offset pressures on revenue budgets.” And, on the topic of unfair competition, its take on
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