03/10/2017

Pre start-ups now eligible for ‘primary authority’ (UK)

Relaxation of the eligibility criteria for the Primary Authority Scheme (PAS) means that, from 1 October, all businesses (including pre-start-ups) as well as charities and trade associations have been able to work in legal partnership with a single, primary authority to achieve regulatory compliance that is respected by regulators throughout the UK.

Primary Authority was launched in 2009 to enable UK local authorities to offer businesses the choice of working with a single authority, which can offer them assured, tailored and reliable advice that makes compliance with environmental health, trading standards or fire safety regulations less time consuming and costly.

The PA can also produce an inspection plan to improve the effectiveness of regulatory visits and underpin better sharing of information.

Further advantages are that the scheme makes local regulation across the UK more consistent and enables regulators to target their resources on the areas where risk is highest.

16,000 businesses had signed up to PA partnerships by 1 October 2017. With eligibility criteria relaxed, a further 250,000 – 95% of them small and medium sized firms – are expected to sign up by 2020 and achieve an estimated overall saving of £23.8m pa.

While most businesses enter into only one partnership, it is possible for them to have different PAs for different areas of regulation. They also have the choice of forming their own partnership and receiving advice directly from the PA or accessing advice via a trade association, or other business group, which tailors advice from the PA for its members.

Access to advice through these ‘coordinated partnerships’ was simplified by the recent changes, which also introduced a more structured role in the PA scheme national regulators.

In addition to providing an overview of the PAS, ‘Local regula­tion: Primary Authority’ links to separate guides for

  • businesses
  • local authorities
  • enforcement officers
  • trade associations
  • businesses with a coordinated PA
  • national regulators

It also links to a YouTube video that illustrates the scope of support available through PAS with brief case studies covering regulatory issues in a luxury car showroom, a furniture store, a care home kitchen and a cheese processor.