Partnership could liberate Leicestershire from red tape
2 March 2011
The Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP) could be the first to include helping business cut through local red tape as part of its remit.
The news comes on the eve of a visit to the county on Thursday (March 3) by Business Minister Mark Prisk MP, who is eager to see that regulatory services (trading standards, environmental health, etc) play a full part in the thinking of local enterprise partnerships, which are intended to lead local economic development.
Mark Prisk MP will be at Leicester Chamber of Commerce to meet with senior representatives of the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership, before speaking at the Asian Business Awards organized by the Leicestershire Asian Business Association.
The Minister is expected to welcome an initiative to actively explore putting in place a new working relationship between the business community and regulatory services by providing a consistent offer across the LLEP area to overcome real and perceived regulatory barriers to growth
Regulatory services organisation LBRO has been invited to provide the LLEP specialist assistance in the form of training for council regulatory enforcement officers to help them better understand the needs of business. In particular, with Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce, it is exploring how best regulatory service support can be provided to meet the needs of businesses trading within the LLEP area.
Leicester Chamber of Commerce Group Managing Director, Martin Traynor, said: "We're very pleased to be spearheading this path-finding initiative with LBRO which will benefit our members and the wider business community."
LBRO Chairman Clive Grace said: "One of the key concerns for business is the burden of legislation. Writing a new relationship between business and the regulators into the set up of LEPs is an opportunity to begin a new, more prosperous era.
"Environmental health, trading standards and other regulations are requirements on business, and are enforced in the main by local authorities, so we believe it is crucial to set the terms of the new relationship between the regulators and the regulated from the beginning.
"Working together, business and regulators can create a new landscape based on trust, where the emphasis is on getting the right impacts and outcomes for all. The Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership could be the first in the country to put the issue of local regulations at the heart of their agenda, and their experience would be of huge benefit to others."
LBRO has been particularly active in Leicestershire for some time, working with North West Leicestershire District Council on the development of its business support partnerships; and facilitating new relationships between the National Federation of Retail Newsagents and the city and county councils.
LBRO sees huge potential for business to run more smoothly and for councils to be able to allocate resources more efficiently, whilst maintaining or enhancing the level of protection to the public and the environment.
Schemes such as LBRO's Primary Authority, which provides one point of contact for businesses when dealing with multiple authorities, are practical demonstrations of how the new relationship can be successful.
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Jo Barker or Roland Curtis. Tel: 0121 226 4019.
Email: jo.barker@lbro.org.uk or roland.curtis@lbro.org.uk