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The Conservative Party gathered in Birmingham this week for their annual conference. Local government reorganisation (LGR), rural issues, and deregulation were at the top of the agenda in terms of CTSI’s work. CTSI’s Policy Team was there throughout, meeting parliamentarians and speaking to stakeholders from a range of sectors. Here is what we learnt.

Less Red Tape

The Conservative’s big economic message was certainly deregulation this year. Shadow Chancellor Andrew Griffith MP billed his plans as the most ambitious deregulation project in a generation. They include abolishing the Environment Agency and Natural England, with their functions moving into DEFRA, merging Section 106 agreements and the Community Infrastructure Levy into a single charge, and scrapping Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging. He also promised to cut one tax every year in government, and told a Centre for Policy Studies audience that earlier Conservative governments had been wrong to micro-regulate consumer choices.

A second theme that ran through the fringe events on offer was regulating the regulators. Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Richard Fuller MP called for annual reviews of whether regulators are lowering prices and attracting investment, and for democratic control to be restored over arm’s-length bodies. Blake Stephenson MP pointed out that the Commons has not rejected a delegated legislation committee item since 1979. Griffith was also critical of outsourcing regulation to third parties with the wrong incentives.

The debate focused on regulators rather than local enforcement, and consumer protection was not part of the measures proposed. For CTSI, that is an opening to argue that proportionate, locally accountable enforcement protects honest businesses from those who cut corners, and to suggest that any review of regulators should measure consumer harm as well as growth.

Local Government After the Pause

LGR hung over the week, and was a main topic of conversation many MPs and Shadow Cabinet members were keen to talk about with our Policy Team. The Government paused the programme on 7 September in a number of areas, withdrew decisions already taken in Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, and confirmed that May 2027 elections will go ahead on existing boundaries. At conference, Shadow Local Government Secretary Katie Lam MP launched a project with the Conservative Councillors’ Association (CCA) and the Conservative Policy Forum to develop a new Conservative vision for local government, including what should be decided nationally and what locally. It is expected to feed into a manifesto before next year’s elections.

Given Trading Standards’ position within local authorities, the answer to that question matters greatly to our profession. We will be seeking to make sure the profession’s expertise informs the thinking from the outset.

Animal Welfare 

No new Animal welfare policy was announced by the Conservatives this year, but there were still many discussions around the importance of the subject. The Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation held a reception on Tuesday evening, with Shadow Environment Secretary Victoria Atkins MP and Dr Neil Hudson among the speakers. Atkins’ main announcements were on abolishing Natural England and the Environment Agency, which will change who enforces wildlife and environmental law. Our (Tackling) Animal Harm asks, including reform of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, were raised with relevant delegates, and we will be following up with these contacts in the coming weeks.

Closer to Europe, on Whose Terms?

Unsurprisingly, the Conservative tone on Europe was very different from Labour’s. Many Conservative MPs warned against an EU reset that would pull the UK back into European regulatory orbits without a seat at the table. The party has previously opposed rule-taking and dynamic alignment, but nobody set out an alternative for cooperating on standards. If alignment goes ahead, Trading Standards will be the ones enforcing the result, so we will keep pressing for enforcers to have a voice before rules are adopted.

Tax and the economy

At the Big Tax Debate, Shadow Treasury Minister Baroness Neville-Rolfe said a £47bn package of spending cuts must come before tax relief and backed abolishing stamp duty. Neville-Rolfe joined a Trading Standards and Which? fringe at the 2014 Conservative conference, so she knows our work well. With the Chancellor’s first Budget due on 28 October, expect the party to keep pressing on tax and spending.

Looking Ahead

The Conservatives left Birmingham clearer on their direction than on the detail. Deregulation is the organising idea, and local government and the regulatory state are both under review inside the party. That gives CTSI a chance to shape policy while it is still being written. We leave with new contacts and will be following up with those we met, including member of the Shadow Cabinet, CCHQ, and partner organisations to make the case for the profession in the months ahead.