Summary of the changes

The new legislation extends the cashless trading provisions of the Scrap Metal Dealers’ Act 1964 to cover motor vehicle dismantlers and mobile collectors (i.e. persons described in the 1964 Act as “itinerant collectors”).  It also introduces a requirement for scrap metal dealers to check and record evidence of the identity of persons from whom they receive scrap metal. 

The changes include a new requirement for scrap metal dealers to obtain licences from the local authority they operate in, replacing the current registrations.  Licences will be issued only after we undertake checks with the Police regarding the individuals involved in the business.  The council will be setting a fee for licences which we will publish when it is available. 

Other changes include modernising record-keeping requirements, creation of a national register of scrap metal dealers (to be held by the Environment Agency), widening the definition of metals that can be considered scrap and making it easier for a local authority or police officer to enter and inspect an unlicensed site.