Major supermarkets among latest sign-ups to Primary Authority
26 October 2010
Three of the UK's major supermarkets, Tesco, Sainsbury and the Co-operative Group, are among the latest major companies that have signed up to Primary Authority, taking participation by the food retail sector to 73%.
They were announced by Business and Enterprise Minister Mark Prisk at the Local & National Regulators Conference in London. He said: "Local innovation and collaboration are the keys to combining legitimate public protection with the freedom to generate economic growth.
"Encouraging regulators and businesses to work in partnership to achieve shared objectives has to be the way forward. That is why I am keen to see a major expansion of Primary Authority.
"Effective local regulation requires confidence and mutual trust. Businesses must be able to rely on the advice and guidance received from local authorities."
Carole Payne Operations and Standards Director for Trading Law and Technical for Tesco said: "We are excited to embark upon this partnership as we feel that it fits with the Tesco values of ‘Simpler Better Cheaper' for our customers and will improve consistency and ensure that there is a risk-based approach to regulation."
Primary Authority allows businesses to enter into a legal agreement with one local authority which will act as a single point of contact for local regulation.
The latest partnerships are:
- The Co-operative Group & Manchester City Council
- Sainsbury's & Cherwell District and Oxfordshire County Councils
- Wetherspoons & Reading Borough Council
- Tesco & Dacorum Borough and Hertfordshire County Councils
- Go Ape & Cheshire West and Chester City Council
- Status International & the West Yorkshire Trading Standards Service
The Minister has asked LBRO, who run Primary Authority, to examine options for strengthening the scheme with regard to inspection plans and for extending the scheme to cover more areas of regulation. Primary authority partnerships are legally binding agreements between a single local authority and a business, and backed by statutory powers enforced by LBRO, the technical expert in better local regulation.
There are now 410 partnerships covering 120 businesses, 29,000 premises, and 841,000 employees. A full, up to date list of partnerships and the regulations they cover are maintained on the LBRO website. Visit: www.lbro.org.uk/pa-public-listings.php
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