A new type of regulatory partnership aimed at improving the consistency of local-authority enforcement in areas such as health and safety, making better use of local-authority resources, and reducing the compliance burden is to begin a pilot this month.
The Primary Authority scheme is basically a beefed-up statutory model of the established HSE Lead Authority scheme — set up to give health and safety advice to business — and the LACORS-run Home Authority scheme for food and trading standards.
Organisations that work across local-authority boundaries, e.g. retailers with multiple outlets, will be eligible to register for the new programme, which will see one council registered as the Primary Authority for that business, relating to one or more of the following functions: health and safety (environmental health), trading standards, licensing, and fire safety.
A Primary Authority will not only be responsible for providing advice to the partner organisation on the designated function but also for giving guidance to other councils on how they should enforce in relation to that business. The Government hopes the benefits the scheme will bring will address concerns over inconsistencies in local-authority regulation, particularly health and safety.
Clive Grace, chair of the Local Better Regulation Office (LBRO), which runs the scheme, said: “Inconsistent advice from different councils can damage prosperity, cause frustration, and add to business costs.
“The new scheme will help ensure consistency, and improve companies’ confidence about getting robust and reliable advice from council regulators. Their new partnerships with councils are a key part of better local regulation, improving compliance, and reducing red tape.”
The Government believes communication between councils will be greatly improved, as an enforcing authority will need to contact the Primary Authority before taking any enforcement action in relation to the relevant function. If this is blocked, the enforcing authority can refer the Primary Authority’s decision to the LBRO to settle.
However, LACORS believes the fact that a potentially remote Primary Authority can veto a local enforcing authority’s wish to carry out an inspection runs counter to local government.
A spokesperson told SHP: “One of our main concerns is the role of the LBRO, and the fact that it can force a Primary Authority relationship on a council. If you take, for example, the big London councils, which might have to deal with large, multinational organisations, perhaps with quite specific needs, they could become overly burdened.”
IOSH has long held the view that a unified enforcement agency would bring both consistency and the ability to deploy enforcement resources better — arguably obviating the need for the LBRO approach.
Nevertheless, commenting on the scheme, president Ray Hurst worried what would happen “if the LBRO and Primary Authorities gave advice or guidance that was inconsistent or conflicted with that given by the HSE”. He added: “We believe it’s important the HSE retains the discretion to ensure there are inspection ‘blitzes’, when appropriate — for example, like its regular construction blitzes”.
The pilot runs until March next year and will see the LBRO work closely with businesses and councils to develop draft arrangements and inspection plans, and test the referrals process. Retailers B&Q, Boots, John Lewis, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and Waitrose, along with several councils, will act as guinea pigs, with the scheme in full operation from April 2009.
The Government believes it could eventually save business up to £48m a year.
