Overview
- The Prime Minister unveiled the package this week, saying a new smartphone payment app called Trusted Partners will go live next week to hold customers' money and release payments only when agreed stages of a job are completed.
- The Trusted Partners system was developed by a private firm in partnership with TrustMark and the Department for Business and Trade says up to 100,000 traders will be able to access it by the end of September.
- A government‑backed Approved Codes Scheme for home improvement businesses, created by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute and the Furniture and Home Improvement Ombudsman, will open at the end of September and be fully live by December to let firms signal higher standards on customer service and dispute handling.
- Ministers also published tighter rules for private bailiffs in England and Wales requiring accreditation by the Enforcement Conduct Board or employment with an accredited firm and introducing mandatory independent oversight.
- Campaign groups and the opposition note more than one in four people report problems with recent renovations and warn the schemes are unfunded and may add paperwork for honest tradespeople, so uptake and real-world protection will depend on industry buy‑in and whether ministers later boost enforcement or funding.