News Archive

30/07/10 Improving the quality of life in Wales is at the heart of priorities set out in a new document prepared by the Local Better Regulation Office (LBRO) for the Welsh Assembly Government.

28/07/10 Improving the quality of life in Wales is at the heart of priorities set out in a new document prepared by the Local Better Regulation Office (LBRO) for the Welsh Assembly Government.

22/07/10 LBRO welcomes the review, by the Government, of its activities, which are creating the conditions needed to improve regulatory performance in a way that benefits business.

16/07/10 Another step towards making the regulatory system work better has been taken following the signing of memoranda of understanding between LBRO, the technical expert on local regulation, and five major regulatory bodies.

15/07/10 Business growth is still threatened by the burden of regulation but there are signs that the drive to cut red tape is having a positive impact, according to a national survey undertaken for LBRO, the technical expert on better local regulation.

13/07/10 The solution to how small businesses can operate more smoothly and more profitably around the country may come from a bold initiative to cut red tape being trialled by a small Midlands council.

13/07/10 Britvic Soft Drinks, one of the leading businesses in its sector in Britain, has signed up with Chelmsford Borough and Essex County Council to cut red tape and save money.

6/07/10 Leading UK companies have taken part in a podcast to promote the benefits of a national red tape cutting scheme that is shaving millions of pounds from operating costs.

29/06/10 Tough budget constraints may threaten staff development programmes at local authorities but LBRO, the technical expert in better regulation, says it has part of the solution in its free Trading Places scheme.

28/06/10 Local councils now have a robust tool for improving their regulatory services, an independent report has concluded.

15/06/10 Ministers have asked the Better Regulation Executive to work with LBRO - the technical expert on better local regulation - to prepare options for extending the Primary Authority scheme.

15/06/10 Lichfield District Council is pioneering a new scheme to cut red tape for business - and it has started with a partnership with Midlands Expressway, who operate the M6 Toll.

15/06/10 Breckland Council is pioneering a new scheme to cut red tape for business - and it has started with a partnership with Hughes, which has 44 outlets in the East of England and is one of the UK's largest rental and electrical retail companies.

7/06/10 Business is seeing savings from the Primary Authority scheme operated by LBRO, the independent technical expert on better local regulation.

7/06/10 Organic food firm Daylesford Organics and West Oxfordshire District Council have become the latest partnership to pioneer a scheme that will reduce time and money spent on administration, and make it simpler to deliver safe products to customers.

6/06/10 Business is being urged to contribute to a new risk-based approach to national regulations, which will help reduce the burden on them and benefit consumer protection at the same time.

21/05/10 LBRO has produced a ready to use version of its Impacts and Outcomes toolkit following its enthusiastic take up by regulatory enforcement officers.

06/04/10 Delivering a single business inspection, by one inspector, covering multiple regulatory functions, ranging from trading standards to environmental health, is a considerable challenge, according to a second report on the Retail Enforcement Pilot (REP).

31/03/10 A groundbreaking scheme to cut burdens on business has reached a milestone following agreement between the Home Retail Group - the parent behind Argos and Homebase - and Milton Keynes Council.

30/03/10 LBRO has begun the process of refreshing the national enforcement priorities for regulation in England, with the emphasis changing to focus on outcomes and risk.

30/03/10 Portsmouth City Council is pioneering a new way of cutting red tape to help business.

17/03/10 National regulators could soon be taking a leaf out of their local counterparts' book following the launch of the Trading Places programme in Whitehall.

15/03/10 Renfrewshire Council has become the first local authority in Scotland to pioneer a groundbreaking way of cutting red tape to help business.

11/03/10 Welsh business is set to benefit from an introduction to an initiative that will cut red tape and save them time and money.

11/03/10 Supermarket giant Asda is to host a major delegation of enforcement officers from councils around the UK so they can find out more about how retail business operates.

03/03/10 An extra £300,000 to stop dangerous products finding their way into British shops has been welcomed by LBRO, the public body responsible for better local regulation.

23/02/10 A new partnership with the National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN) is set to boost the number of placements on LBRO's Trading Places scheme, which seeks to bring regulatory enforcement officers and businesses closer together.

15/02/10 The BSS Group plc, a leading distributor to specialist trades, has become the first in its sector to sign up to a Primary Authority partnership to ensure consistent application of health and safety standards across hundreds of sites.

15/02/10 The first agreement between all key players on ‘excellence' in delivering outcomes through the local authority regulatory system - the Excellence Framework - has been launched by Consumer Affairs Minister Kevin Brennan. 

10/02/10 A ‘dating service' that is driving local councils and businesses closer together is playing an important role in to ensuring the UK's economic recovery continues on track.

08/02/10 Trading Places, the initiative aimed at helping local authorities and business work together more smoothly, is to be launched in Wales.

02/02/10 Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council is making a real impact with Primary Authority, after signing four partnerships with major manufacturing firms in the Bolton area.

25/01/10 Lorna Thompson has accepted a two-year secondment from the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to be Senior Policy Officer for Wales at LBRO

25/01/2010 Moves to curb irresponsible drinking have led to a call for a ‘revisit of existing solutions', particularly in preventing sales of alcohol to young people.

19/01/2010 Local government expert Claire Bridges has accepted a one-year secondment as Director of Policy Engagement at LBRO, the public body responsible for better local regulation.

18/01/2010 To mark the start of 2010, LBRO, the public body for better local regulation, has launched a 10 for '10 Toolkit of ideas, information and practical solutions to help local authority regulators as they serve their communities.

12/01/2010 Good Food 2 Go and Horsham District Council have become the latest partnership to pioneer a red-tape cutting scheme to reduce time and money spent on administration, and make it even simpler to deliver safe products to customers.

04/01/2010  LBRO has published a review document, Taking Stock, Moving Forward, outlining its view of the future for better local regulation.

15/12/2009 The latest ‘map' has been produced providing a snapshot of just how many regulations we now have to comply with, and just how complex life has become over nearly two centuries of legislation.

08/12/2009 Westminster Council is taking a lead in health and safety in the pub retail sector in an agreement with Solihull-based Enterprise Inns, which provides support to thousands of pub retailers.

07/12/2009 Local regulatory services across England and Wales are spending around £6 million a year dealing with central Government requests for data - roughly half the salary of an extra environmental health or trading standards officer for every council - according to a new report.

04/12/2009 A new report highlights the economic benefit to the UK from local regulatory enforcement action to protect business and the public from threats to the nation as a whole.

01/12/2009 For the first time, Welsh local authorities will have their own national priorities for wide ranging activity affecting the quality of life of their citizens - everything from food safety and safer communities to healthier workplaces and fairer trading.

23/11/2009 Asda has become the first of the UK's major supermarkets to pioneer a red tape cutting scheme that will help reduce time and money spent on administration, and make it even simpler to deliver the best possible service to customers.  

23/11/2009 The announcement of three new Primary Authority agreements was a highlight at LBRO's annual conference in London, attended by 150 delegates from local government, business and the regulatory community.

19/11/2009 High street retailer TK Maxx has been the first company in the sector to take advantage of a scheme that will cut unnecessary red tape, and cut its costs as a result.

12/11/2009 There's an important yet often overlooked group who have a criticial role to play in national economic recovery - local councils.

12/11/2009 LBRO's Trading Places initiative is a kind of 'get to know you' project that encourages closer contact between businesses and their local regulators.

05/11/2009 Businesses are being urged to do more to help themselves when it comes to cutting red tape after a national survey revealed that many firms are finding it harder going than ever. The call comes from the public body responsible for simpler local regulation, LBRO, following research that found over a third of businesses (37 per cent) believe it’s taking more time than ever to comply with the rules.

02/11/2009 LBRO has published a collection of thought provoking essays on the critical role effective regulation plays in economic prosperity and consumer protection.

26/10/2009 A research project has found that far from what is perceived as a tense stand-off, many small businesses actively seek positive partnerships with regulators from their local authorities.

21/10/2009 For the first time local regulators have access to a powerful toolkit to help them in planning budgets and priorities, and raising their profile, following groundbreaking research commissioned by LBRO, the public body responsible for better local regulation.

19/10/2009 Retra has been helping businesses cut red tape and make their relations with local councils and other regulators operate more smoothly.

20/10/2009 New research shows that the way local councils enforce regulations can have wide ranging effects on your community - anything from boosting the price of your house to health benefits.

09/10/2009 LADBROKES, one of the biggest and most recognisable names in betting, has signed up to a new regulatory relationship, as part of a pioneering UK scheme for better local regulation.

30/09/2009 Working together to forge a new relationship between business and its local regulators is the focus of the LBRO Conference at the Hilton Metropole Hotel, London, on Thursday, 19 November.

30/06/2009 The Trading Standards Institute (TSI) and Essex County Council have today (Tuesday 30 June) signed up to Primary Authority signalling the start of a new regulatory relationship.

30/06/2009 Boots UK, the UK's leading pharmacy-led health and beauty retailer, has signed up to a pioneering scheme for better local regulation, creating an innovative partnership with Nottinghamshire County Council as its single point of contact for trading standards issues across the UK.

26/06/2009 LBRO News launches this week and heads of local authorities and business organisations aiming to keep up to date with the latest developments in local regulatory services need look no further.

22/06/2009 With challenging times ahead, a workforce that keeps up-to-date with the latest sector developments adds significantly to the strategic value of councils. Those who are trained and equipped with relevant skills are more capable of adapting to a changing political and business environment.

15/06/2009 Focusing local weights and measures activity on the national priority of healthy workplaces by targeting related activity such as drug preparations, is one of the innovative approaches to tackling national priorities at a local level and within limited budgets, recently published by the Local Better Regulation Office.

08/06/2009 Local authority training providers are encouraged to send regulatory staff into the commercial world to find out first-hand how council inspection and enforcement operations impact on the day-to-day running of businesses.

22/05/2009 Leading figures from the world of local regulation ventured into a commercial environment this week to find out first-hand how council inspection and enforcement operations impact on the day-to-day running of businesses, and are encouraging others to do the same.

06/04/2009 Retailers B&Q, Iceland and Moto Hospitality Ltd today signed up to the launch of the new Primary Authority scheme designed to ensure that key trading laws are applied consistently across the UK. Lord Carter, Minister for Regulatory Reform, welcomed the official signing of the partnership agreements between some of Britain's biggest businesses and most innovative councils.

31/03/2009 Local authorities, through their regulatory services, can give an extra boost to businesses during the recession - and help to protect the public from rogue traders. That's the message from the Local Better Regulation Office (LBRO).

27/03/2009 Senior company bosses, regulators and business organisations attended the launch of Trading Places - a new initiative from the Local Better Regulation Office (LBRO) to show local authority regulators first-hand how their decisions affect the business they inspect.

04/03/2009 Council efforts to cut red tape for business have been recognised at the annual local government 'Oscars'.

Calls for new approach to health and safety welcomed

04/09/2008 A key government initiative to find new ways of reducing unnecessary inspection burdens on law-abiding retailers has a new home.

27/08/2008 LBRO announces a bursary for regulatory services managers to participate in an exciting new strategic leadership course.

22/07/2008 Moves to help local authorities improve the way they enforce key regulations took a big step forward today with the confirmation of statutory powers for a new public body.

30/05/2008 LBRO and LACORS agree joint statement on working together.

15/05/2007 Hilary Armstrong, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, today announced the appointment of seven Board Members and a chief executive of the newly established Local Better Regulation Office (LBRO).

15/04/2007 Hilary Armstrong, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, today announced the appointment of Clive Grace as Chair of the Local Better Regulation Office (LBRO).

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