SOLACE East of England Seminar
‘Open For Business’
Friday 24th January 2014
Stevenage, Hertfordshire
10:00 ‘Open for business’ session
Maxine Aldred, Development Manager for the Federation of Small
Businesses
Paul Downhill, Consumer Affairs Manager of Home Retail Group (Argos,
Homebase and Habitat)
Sarah Smith, Director, Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO) (BIS)
Helen Buckingham, Programme Manager, BRDO (BIS)
Local
Enterprise
Partnerships
Growth Duty
Regulators Code
Service
standards
Fees &
charges
Moving from Risks to Outcomes by
the appropriate means
Competency
framework
RDNA
Professional
development
Core skills
Leadership
Frameworks
Better Regulatory Delivery
Culture/Competency
Rules
Codes of Practice
e.g. age restricted
products
Leadership
skills
Business
planning
Strategic risk
Values
Business
Reference
Accountability to business
Panel
Data
Focus on
collections
Enforcement
Excellence
Performance Management
Priority
Framework
Regulatory
Impacts &
Outcomes
Outcomes
Collaborative Compliance PRIMARY AUTHORITY
Supporting compliance and encouraging economic
growth
• Helping businesses to comply
and grow
• Providing assurance
• Reducing compliance costs
• Reducing ‘gold plating’
• Using feedback from & coordinating enforcing
authorities
• Sharing specialist knowledge
• Cost recovery
What people are saying
‘Our primary authority gives advice that is
now entirely consistent and the time we
spend on regulatory activity has reduced
dramatically. Issues are resolved better,
faster and more consistently – for us Primary
Authority is a much more efficient way of
proceeding’
What people are saying
[A small drinks manufacturer] ‘Our primary
authority gives us advice on how to label our
products by reviewing ‘draft labels’. Once a
label has been approved by it …no other
regulator elsewhere challenges it.’
What people are saying
[A district council primary authority] ‘Primary
Authority helps our kudos and helps with the
reputation of regulators more generally – it
offers a more positive picture of regulation
than many organisations seem to have’
ALL SHAPES AND SIZES
ALL SHAPES AND SIZES
Vital Statistics
903 businesses in primary authority
119 local authorities
Over 73,000 premises
33% of these businesses are small (<50)
19% of these businesses are medium (<250)
22% are manufacturers
Where next for Primary Authority?
Trade Associations and Franchisees
Fire Safety
Toughening up softer elements
Time to get involved?
Primary Authority at
Home Retail Group
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Head Office
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Central decisions
Strategy
Promotional campaigns
Product selection
Training developed
Design of store layout
Internet and ecommerce
Relationship with primary authority – trading
standards, health and safety, fire
• Growth is driven from the centre
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The store
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In the community
Employing local people
Serving local customers
Delivering central policy
Subject to local enforcement
Unlikely to ask for help locally
Local advice may conflict with central policy
Local constraints may hamper growth
Good local relationships are important
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Home Retail Group
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700 + Argos stores
300 + Homebase stores
3 Habitat stores
Argos, Homebase and Habitat websites
Mobile and Tablet Apps
A presence in every town across Great Britain
Central decision making – Local enforcement
Centrally established policy, process and procedure means
consistency, predictability increased likelihood of
compliance.
• But local needs may differ – based on local risks
• Can we earn recognition nationally and locally?
• Can Primary Authority help? Yes it can!
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Primary Authority
• Assured advice
• Inspection Plan
• Direct Referrals
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Assured Advice
• Evolved Compliance teams in House
• Not asking open ended questions
• Seeking assurance and validation on specific points or
assurance on fitness for purpose of policies
• Assured advice on policy based on audit
• Annual review of audits
• Assured advice drives certainty
• Over 30 pieces of assured advice given
• Robust and reliable
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Inspection Plan
• Routine interventions are predictable
• Better feedback from interventions
• Helps regulators in decisions about need for interventions – risk
based, intelligence lead enforcement
• Should form part of the regulators “pre flight check”
• Helps direct local resources – is there a need to intervene, or is
it for reassurance?
• Annually reviewed
• From 1st October regulators must follow the inspection plan
• Most inspection plans are to reduce interventions but do not
block or discourage interventions (“if you visit, look at this, tell
us what you found”)
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Assured Advice and Inspection
Plans in Action
• Fire Authorities – Assured advice re fire prevention
measures – inspections needed to ensure the policy is
applied on the ground, firemen need to visit premise to
plan for the worst - if they have to enter the premises to
fight a fire
• Age restricted sales – policy/procedure agreed and
affirmed by assured advice, but is it being adhered to by
the stores? Can only validate through test purchasing.
• Local issue – graffiti for example – if its linked to youths
where are they getting the product – test purchasing a
tool that can be deployed – the inspection plan asks for
feedback.
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Direct Referrals
• Not strictly speaking identified in Regulatory Enforcement
and Sanctions Act
• However actual scope and detail of partnership left to the
two partners to decide
• As managed as part of the PA partnership, can be charged
on a cost recovery basis
• Cost effective for the business (reduction in traffic from
regulators, all through one conduit)
• Effective for LAs – somewhere to send issues that do not
merit a full intervention
• Allows PA to monitor issues and identify trends, sets the
agenda for the partnership
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