Manchester Solutions

Local authority leaders striving to support their business communities on the road to economic recovery are being urged to maximise the contribution of their own regulatory services. 

Best practice examples of how regulatory issues ranging from work-related ill health to alcohol misuse to taxi licensing can all be tackled in ways that promote prosperity and protect against rogue traders are highlighted in an advice and guidance document due to be published next week by the public body for better local regulation LBRO.

The guidance demonstrates how environmental health, fire safety services, licensing and trading standards can play an important and sometimes under-estimated role in supporting businesses - and in turn consumers - through the recession and beyond.

A recent LBRO survey showed that more than half of the face-to-face contacts small and medium sized businesses had with local authorities in a 12 month period were with regulatory services officers¹. Elected members, chief executives and directors are now being encouraged to assess how they can take full advantage of these officers' local contacts, knowledge and expertise.

Better Local Regulation: Supporting Businesses Towards Recovery, sets out how regulatory services are best placed to deliver four key approaches to moving towards recovery:

• Using direct relationships to signpost local businesses to appropriate support and guidance
• Using face-to-face engagement to understand local businesses' diverse issues and challenges and feed this information into local economic assessments
• Taking an intelligence-led approach to targeting activity on the particular opportunities and threats faced by local economies and communities
• Developing collaborative approaches that deliver shared local and national priorities

The better regulation principles are at the heart of the advice and guidance, with case studies demonstrating how councils and their partners can further embed these principles through locally-agreed recovery plans.

Recommended approaches to developing regulatory services include adopting a continuous improvement culture, maximising use of resources and creating better outcomes through local, regional and national partnerships and greater collaboration.

The Kirklees Better Health at Work scheme is one example of better local regulation set out in the guidance. This innovative approach to addressing work-related ill health shows how the provision of carefully tailored support services to both businesses and workers can have a significant impact on working days lost and claims for incapacity benefit. Local authority ‘one-stop-shops' for businesses and Basingstoke and Deane's local business partnership are also detailed.

The document is being published to coincide with the Local Government Association Conference in Harrogate next week. It has been welcomed by a number of key consumer and business organisations as well as regulatory trade bodies.

LBRO Chairman Clive Grace said: "Councils need to be active in adversity.  The leadership of elected Members and Chief Executives has been critical to developing local ways forward amidst the global crisis. Better regulation has an important part to play, supporting business and protecting communities. Local authority regulatory services are often the most visible face of councils to the business community. Their advice and their focus on rogue traders benefits compliant businesses and their customers alike and are essential at a time when many are struggling."