Influential bodies pledge co-operation on local regulation
30/05/08
Two influential organisations today pledged to work together for better council regulatory services.
New improvement body the Local Better Regulation Office (LBRO) and the long-established the Local Authorities Co-ordinators Of Regulatory Services (LACORS) have issued a joint statement outlining their plans to co-operate.
In the statement the two bodies say they will:
- Collaborate to ensure that council regulatory services are in the best possible position to protect consumers, workers and the environment and reduce unnecessary burdens on business
- Work together to build a ‘world class' system of local authority regulatory services
LACORS chief executive Derek Allen said:
"LACORS has an established reputation in providing quality advice and guidance to councils and promoting best practice. It champions the important local role of council regulatory services, provides leadership on behalf of local government sector and promotes local authority excellence. The organisation is the national representative body for council regulatory services and has demonstrated its important role in ensuring that local council regulatory services meet the needs and balance the expectations of local people and local businesses."
LBRO chief executive Graham Russell said:
"LBRO will take full advantage of its unique statutory role to work with LACORS, the local authorities and our other key partners to ensure that there is a prosperous future for businesses throughout the United Kingdom and the communities they serve. By working together we will be more effective in helping local authorities protect consumers, workers and the environment from rogue traders and support legitimate businesses."
Full text of statement
"LBRO and LACORS have a shared interest in the improvement of local authority regulatory services and the wider landscape in which they operate. Both organisations recognise that it will be essential to work in partnership to achieve maximum mutual benefit and added value across the sector.
"LACORS was formed 30 years ago by local government to support councils in their delivery of a consistent and effective trading standards service. Over the years its support has been extended and now includes many of the operations associated with councils' environmental health services.
"The Local Better Regulation Office (LBRO) is a new independent organisation created by the Better Regulation Executive to drive the wider regulatory reform agenda at local level and to stimulate, support and incentivise improvement. Its mission is to secure the more effective performance of local authority regulatory services in accordance with better regulation principles. Subject to the passage of the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill through Parliament, LBRO will have statutory power to give guidance to local authorities in order to achieve this overall aim.
"Working together, LACORS and LBRO can share a wealth of experience and expertise, which can be supported by LBRO programme funding. We will benefit from mutually reinforcing roles - lobbying on behalf of local authorities in the case of LACORS, and offering evidence-based advice to government in the case of LBRO.
"LBRO recognises that LACORS is a key stakeholder and delivery partner in driving improvement. Working closely with the local government associations (LGA, WLGA, COSLA and NILGA) and the Improvement and Development Agency for local government (IDeA), LACORS is ideally placed to support the better regulation agenda across local government, not least in raising awareness and understanding of the role of regulatory services with local councillors.
"LBRO has a specific brief to reduce the regulatory burdens upon business, while maintaining current high levels of public and environmental protection. In this regard the LBRO will work with all the stakeholders across the regulatory landscape that impact upon regulation at local level. This will include the national regulators, government departments, professional bodies, business and consumers. LBRO will take an evidence-based approach to improvement across this wider landscape in which local authority regulatory services work and will work with all stakeholders to achieve coherence and consistency of approach and outcome.
"LBRO will also have a statutory duty to review the national enforcement priorities for local authority regulatory services and will work with them to align national priorities to local priorities of wellbeing and economic regeneration, recognising the importance of preserving local discretion within the context of local area agreements. Working together, LBRO and LACORS will be best placed to ensure consistency and transparency in the regulation of business across the country while maintaining local autonomy.
"The two organisations will develop collaborative projects and have already agreed to work together in a coalition with other partners to explore the issues which will lead to a ‘world-class' local authority regulatory services system. A joint conference is being planned for summer 2008 and a number of joint publications are being discussed. Both organisations are sponsoring the ‘Tackling Climate Change' theme in round nine of the Beacon council scheme."
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