LOCAL BETTER
REGULATION OFFICE News Release (LBRO/24/2008) issued by COI News
Distribution Service. 12 November 2008
Council services
providing vital consumer protection and regulatory advice to
business are delivered amid enormous complexity, the first ever
'map' of the UK's local regulatory regime reveals.
Local inspectors must enforce some 200 pieces of domestic
legislation as well as EU directives, the Mapping the Local
Authority Regulatory Services Landscape report found. They must
also implement policies set by up to a dozen central government
departments and 10 national regulators - and in some cases enforce
rules alongside them.
The report, published by the Local Better Regulation Office
(LBRO), also found that responsibility for providing trading
standards, environmental health, licensing and fire safety
services is divided between more than 500 local bodies across
England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Depending on the
type of council in an area, inspections alone can be carried out
by up to three different local authorities.
The report is the first to detail the complex web of
relationships and responsibilities behind local regulatory advice,
inspection and enforcement activity.
Clive Grace, the LBRO chair, said:
"The system of local regulation is enormously complex. Local
authorities have an exceptionally difficult and demanding job to
do in enforcing the range of legislation they are responsible for
with the resources made available to them. They have a key role to
play not only in protecting society but in providing support to
businesses in creating prosperity.
"LBRO has been established to make local regulation work
better and the report is an important first step in building a
consensus about the way forward. The need to reduce the complexity
and provide an effective means of reducing the unnecessary burdens
on both the regulated and the regulators are two issues that
emerge strongly from our research, and will be priorities for us
going forward."
Despite the scale and impact of local authority regulatory
services - with 20,000 staff in total they are the biggest
regulatory regime in the UK and are responsible for enforcing
trading laws including health and safety, food and product safety,
and consumer rights among other duties - they attract less than
one per cent of town hall budgets, some £1.25 billion in England,
Wales and Scotland in 2006/07.
Noel Hunter, chairman of the Board of the Trading Standards
Institute (TSI), said:
"The regulatory landscape is complex. Now, more than ever
before, the public relies upon consumer protection services to
ensure a fair trading environment. It is now a global
marketplace, which provides challenges to make sure that consumers
get a fair deal, whether they are buying locally or from anywhere
in the world, and that reputable businesses are supported to
compete in fair markets.
"Our challenge is to make sure that the highly skilled
trading standards workforce operating in local authorities is
adequately supported to play its role in this increasingly complex
arena. We have to review priorities continuously and improve
communication and collaboration - not only within the UK but
across Europe and the world. TSI looks forward to working with
LBRO to achieve these goals."
Graham Jukes, the chief executive of the Chartered Institute of
Environmental Health, said:
"The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health welcomes
this report, which puts a spotlight on the important and valuable
work of the regulatory services in protecting public health, while
allowing businesses to operate in a flexible and enterprising environment."
Action has already been taken by Whitehall to simplify the
regulatory system, the report found. In March 2007, the Better
Regulation Executive (BRE) published the first list of enforcement
priorities for English councils - paring 60 competing policy areas
back to six.
And in April 2009, the new Primary Authority scheme will be
established. It will give businesses the legal right for the first
time to set up a partnership with one council that is responsible
for co-ordinating the inspection and enforcement activity of other
local regulators.
Notes to editors
1. The full report is available at http://www.lbro.org.uk. It is
broken into six sections, looking in detail at the legislation,
policy, organisational, resources, performance and relationships
aspects of the local regulatory system. A more detailed technical
annexe will be published before Christmas.
2. The Local Better Regulation Office (LBRO) helps local
authorities improve their environmental health, trading standards,
fire safety and licensing services - reducing burdens on
businesses that comply with the law while targeting those who
flout it. It was incorporated as a government-owned limited
company in May 2007. Following the commencement of the Regulatory
Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008 on 1 October 2008, it now
operates as an executive non-departmental public body, accountable
to the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
through the Better Regulation Executive. LBRO is governed by an
independent Board, has a staff of around 25 and is based in
central Birmingham. It has a remit that covers the whole of the
UK, and works closely with the devolved administrations to ensure
its work in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is appropriate to
the unique constitutional position of each. For further
information about LBRO please visit http://www.lbro.org.uk
Media enquiries to Karl Turner on 0121 226 4019
Ends