This policy sets out the how Bedford Borough Council’s Regulatory Service will engage with local business in relation to establishing Primary Authority Partnerships, and also how it will support those businesses seeking a less formalised partnership.
Such businesses may require access to regulatory advice, which may then require further support and guidance as part of a chargeable advice service.
The Commercial Regulation team, within Regulatory Services undertake a broad range of statutory functions aimed at safe guarding businesses, members of the public and consumers through its Environmental Health and Trading Standards functions. These services aim to support business to grow and succeed whilst also taking actions to minimise activities undertaken by the small numbers of businesses that seek to operate illegally to the detriment of legitimate businesses, the public and employees.
Regulatory Officers working within these teams hold specialist qualifications, expertise and experience within the fields of Environmental Health and Trading Standards meaning they are ideally placed to work with those legitimate businesses seeking to ensure compliance with statutory obligations, providing confidence in the actions they take and measures they develop to ensure the success of their business.
The service currently provides advice to a range of businesses, including new ‘start-up’ businesses, and this will continue through the provision of basic support and signposting to regulations, guidance and relevant resources, with up to 30 minutes free support.
Where more complex, technical or bespoke support is required businesses are able to consider requesting further information relating to the Primary Authority Partnership Scheme, or accessing the Chargeable Advice service.
The services will continue to deliver its statutory duties under the Environmental Health and Trading Standards functions. Where associated activities identify non-compliance existing procedures will be followed in order to deliver compliance, and will include clear information relating to the non-compliance identified, relevant legislation, and signposting to relevant guidance and resources.
Primary Authority is a means for businesses to receive assured and tailored advice on meeting Environmental Health and Trading Standards regulations through a single point of contact. This ensures start-ups get it right at the outset and enables all businesses to invest with confidence in products, practices and procedures, knowing that the resources they devote to compliance are well spent.
Primary Authority is based on legal partnerships between businesses and individual local authorities. Businesses can set up their own partnership or belong to a trade association (or other type of group) with an existing partnership.
A Primary Authority Partnership with Bedford Borough Council's Regulatory Service will allow us to provide advice to your business that other local regulators must respect on compliance with the regulations. We can also work with you to produce inspection plans for your business that other regulators would need to follow, improving the effectiveness of visits by other local regulators.
More information about Primary Authority Partnerships and associated benefits can be found on GOV.UK and also on our website here.
The Commercial Regulation service is able to enter into primary partnership with businesses in relation to a single, or multiple, regulatory areas including;
In addition to the provision of assured advice and inspection plans the commercial regulation service are also able to offer Primary Authority partners a range of support relating to the above regulatory areas such as training, audits associated to business systems, interpretation of regulatory requirements, compliance audits and annual compliance reviews etc.
Applications to enter into a Primary Authority Partnership will require an initial payment of
£285 (excluding VAT) in order to cover work associated to determining the scope of the partnership, assessing the needs of the business, meetings etc. Further costs may be required prior to entering into a partnership and these will be determined on a case by case basis and agreed by both parties.
An annual fee of £171 will be charged, however businesses will be eligible for an initial 3 hours of business advice/support each year as part of this fee. Any further time will be charged at the PA hourly rate of £57(excluding VAT).
Businesses seeking to obtain a fixed level of support from the service each year with packages of 10, 20 and 30 hours available, based on the hourly rate.
See more information on how applications will be progressed.
Once operational Primary Authority Partnerships will be subject to annual review meetings, as minimum, more frequent/detailed reviews may also be specified as part of a specific agreement. A review will provide an opportunity to assess the direction of the partnership and that the needs of the partner business are being met and to ensure Primary Authority Advice is up to date and remains relevant.
Businesses seeking a more detailed package of support from the service can discuss requirements on an individual basis.
For many businesses understanding the requirements of regulation can be time consuming and daunting, services such as Environmental Health and Trading Standards are able to offer advice and signposting to relevant sources of information. However to support both established and new businesses requiring more detailed, technical and/or bespoke advice the service offers a chargeable advise service.
As with the Primary Authority Partnership this service provides access to experienced, knowledgeable and professional officers and is based on meeting the needs of individual businesses, and is delivered on cost recovery only basis.
The chargeable advice service is able to provide support to business in relation to the same regulatory areas as with the Primary Authority Partnership, with advice and support that meets the needs of the business, including:
The service is charged on the basis of £61.27 an hour excluding VAT, with a minimum service commencing at 3 hours, with additional time charged at the standard rate, in 15 minute blocks. Businesses seeking more significant support can discuss their needs and agree a minimum annual support package.
Business that make use of the Chargeable Regulatory Advice Service may decide to develop the established working relationship further, and are able to apply to enter in to a Primary Authority Partnership at any time. The service reserves the right to reduce the access costs for new Primary Authority applications that have already been working in partnership with the service via the chargeable advice scheme.
The Regulatory Service strive to support those legitimate businesses seeking to benefit from opportunities that operating in compliance with regulatory requirements can bring. Access to both Primary Authority Partnership and the Chargeable Regulatory Advice is therefore open to all businesses within the Borough.
The service maintains the right to decline applications for either service, which may occur for a variety of reasons, including:
For more information about Primary Authority Partnerships see our webpage or submit an enquiry directly to business@bedford.gov.uk.
Having entered in to a partnership there may be times that either both or one of the partners no longer wish to continue with the partnership. In such circumstances the partnership can be revoked subject to the relevant notice periods being followed and relevant legislation and guidance being followed.