First agreement on what excellence looks like for regulators
15/02/10
The first agreement between all the key players on what constitutes ‘excellence' in delivering outcomes through the local authority regulatory system has been signed off and published in an Excellence Framework document.
The Excellence Framework was launched by the Kevin Brennan, the Minister for Further Education, Skills, Apprenticeships and Consumer Affairs, at the Year Ahead Conference organised by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, LBRO, LACoRS and the Trading Standards Institute.
The framework is the result of long and close co-operation between LBRO, the public body for better regulation, local authorities and LACoRS, with contributions from national regulators, central government and professional bodies.
LACoRS and LBRO say the framework is: rigorous, being based on research into a number of recognised standards; thorough, covering service delivery in its entirety; and practical, reflecting the views and experiences of practitioners.
LBRO Chairman Clive Grace said: "The value of this framework is that it is the product of local and national agreement of what high quality services look like. This is hugely important given the many different performance schemes in place and the need to change regulatory culture across the system to deliver outcomes rather than outputs.
"We're confident the framework will be the keystone for delivery of local regulatory services, particularly with increasing emphasis on delivering high quality services and value for money."
The Trading Standards Institute's Chief Executive Ron Gainsford said: "The Excellency Framework is a very useful and timely initiative in these financially difficult times where trading standards and other regulatory bodies really need robust tools available to them to be able demonstrate the invaluable outcomes they are achieving, both for consumers and businesses.
"It is fitting for it to be launched at our conference Year Ahead as a reflection of the joined up way we are approaching the unprecedented challenges facing the regulatory professions."
And Graham Jukes, Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, added: "The CIEH supports fully the Excellence Framework for local authorities. We believe that the framework will help local authorities aspire to reach the best standards in local authority regulation."
As well as providing a basis for assessing service delivery, the Excellence Framework is intended to provide a benchmark for national bodies, business and consumers to be reassured the quality of services.
How the Excellence Framework can be practically and cost-effectively self-assessed is the subject of the Regulatory Services Peer Challenge project, which is currently piloting the initiative with 50 local authority regulatory services. It is due to be completed in March.
Once the pilot has been evaluated, a detailed Excellence Framework toolkit will be produced, highlighting the links to all the relevant evidence sources for other frameworks. Options to sustain peer challenge across local authority regulatory services will be explored. Local regulators will be expected to take ownership for identifying issues and taking action to improve, in line with the approaches encouraged by the Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government.
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