Agenda item

Ellie Greenwood, Senior Advisor, introduced the report which informed the Board on the development of proposals by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) for the future of local trading standards services.

Members noted that the paper by CTSI included a number of high level recommendations. An initial paper outlining the proposed approach had been circulated to CTSI members following a 2014 workforce survey and a comprehensive research project into trading standards services at 13 councils. The paper proposed a strategic trading standards model taking into account population size, number of businesses, geography and infrastructure links, key partners and emerging models of government.

CTSI proposed that core funding be allocated directly from central government, but with authorities being permitted to undertake income generating activities. A mixed governance model was also proposed, including elected members, business representatives and the third sector.

Some issues raised by CTSI had previously been raised in the LGA publication ‘Remodelling Public Protection’, including that trading standards budgets had been reduced significantly, and that there might be a need to review existing structures. The proposals were at an early stage, and CTSI were inviting the government to commission more detailed work on the structure, funding and governance of strategic authorities.

In the discussion on the report, the following points were raised:

·         The positon on core funding from central government should be clarified. It would be better for the sector for funding to go directly to local authorities. The LGA should not engage with a holding response, but should clarify that core funding would be better if given directly to local government.

·         Ring fencing proposals should be challenged, so that positive outcomes could be achieved in a more flexible way. Ring fencing was counter to the national direction of travel and was not without risks – the public health budget had been unexpectedly cut by £200 million. The issue of professional boundaries needed to be addressed and members asserted that councils knew about the importance of trading standards even though it was not raised on the doorstep.

·         It would be useful to have a model of what good looked like in different types of authorities, e.g. small unitaries, rural authorities, large metropolitan authorities.

·         The idea that there should just be greater collaborative working with the police also needed to be challenged given the importance of licencing and other regulatory issues.

·         A draft response to the CTSI proposals should be circulated to the Board before submission.

Decisions

·         The board noted the activities outlined in the report.

·         A response to the CTSI proposals should be drafted and circulated to the Board prior to submission.

Action

·         Officers to circulate a draft response to the Board.