November 2003
Focusing on delivery

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EHJ November 2003, pages 332-334

Are you one of life's optimists who believe the glass is half full rather than half empty? Derek Allen of Lacors is, and he calls on local authorities to work with him and take the opportunity to deliver high quality regulatory services

Many of the regulatory services in local authorities, such as trading standards, environmental health, licensing, building control and planning enforcement, are struggling to attract staff and financial resources to deliver an effective service to the communities they serve. In many cases, the services are statutory and require sufficient resources to deliver at least a minimum statutory service. As one former local authority chief executive exclaimed when asked what level of resources should be given to a statutory service: "How long is a piece of string?"

Regulatory services often find themselves competing for resources against the bigger, more powerful and influential local authority services like education, social services and transport which have a much higher public and political profile. However, there are strong links between regulatory services and protecting vulnerable people and the wider community. The delivery of effective, properly resourced, good quality regulatory services makes a major contribution to the social, economic and environmental wellbeing of local communities. A good example is access to safe, healthy and nutritious food which contributes to improved wellbeing and, when supplied by local businesses, benefits the local economy.

The Local Authority Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services (Lacors) is a central body of the Local Government Association (LGA) and Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) and receives funding through top slice revenue support grant monies and from grants from the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and the Northern Ireland Local Government Association (NILGA). It provides support, advice, guidance and best practice to local authority officers and members, covering services such as trading standards, food, licensing, health and safety at work and civil registration. However, it does not help if this service is the best kept secret in the local authority and wider community.

As part of its new strategy, Lacors is attempting to improve communication and engage better with key local authority and central government decision-makers, including leaders, cabinet portfolio holders, chairs of relevant committees, chief executives, directors and senior civil servants in the sponsoring government departments. Lacors is achieving this by:

  • website enhancements to make it more user friendly;
  • an e-mail bulletin service;
  • working closely with the LGAs and their executive committees and other central bodies, including the IDeA and Employers Organisation;
  • presenting at conferences, exhibiting, running seminars and workshops etc; and
  • regular meetings, dialogue and partnership working with key government department officials.

A fundamental service of Lacors is to develop and share good practice and further enhance the capacity building work that forms part of the performance partnership with the key central bodies. The aim is to drive forward improvement in local authority services, including regulatory services.

An excellent example in contributing towards improving service delivery in trading standards is the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) led partnership with Lacors and the Trading Standards Institute to develop a peer review scheme that includes self assessment by the local authority trading standards services. This will be backed up with an independent peer review, the provision of bench-marking comparative data and the adaptation of the European Foundation Quality Model (EFQM) to drive forward continuous improvement.

Regulatory services need to ensure they are included within the corporate and community strategy agenda for their local authority. Regulatory services are not currently part of CPA, but they must seek able and willing partners in their community to contribute to local wellbeing, for example strategies for addressing under age sales and door-step scams etc. Environmental health practitioners are particularly well placed to support and lead on the wider public health agenda and we need to share some of the excellent partnership work that is taking place.

A major new responsibility for local authorities is the Licensing Act 2003, and Lacors is supporting local authorities in this important new role. Lacors will be working with many key stakeholders, including local businesses, with the clear aim of ensuring that local authorities are prepared and able to deliver an effective, quality licensing service.

Lacors is also exploring case studies, looking at best practice and sharing this with colleagues in local authorities through a specialist e-mail bulletin service and website. Councillors like good news and there are a huge number of success stories that can be promoted.

Another bone of contention is the LGA and other associations' strong stance against ring fencing of funding for local authorities, which over the past five years has increased from about 5 per cent to 14 per cent and has been seen by some as detrimental to regulatory services. It is said by some heads of regulatory services that they have had to subsidise other services when council bids are under pressure. However, to ensure regulatory services do receive adequate funding they have to clearly demonstrate their service's added value and contribution to their local authority's priorities. Regulatory services should be seen as fundamental and integral to community wellbeing and that they are well placed to support local public services agreements and can be a valued partner on local strategic partnerships.

Very often, a relatively small amount of additional funding can make a significant difference to the service delivery of a small regulatory service, but would make very little difference to a large social services department. Therefore, it is important to focus on service delivery, performance outcomes and making a difference, rather then just measuring the number of visits made to premises.

  • My message for heads of service and elected members with an interest in these services - and one that Lacors will be working hard to support - is:
  • promote your service, tell the story and engage with your key stakeholders;
  • look to win hearts and minds and do not assume that everyone knows what you are doing;
  • learn from others, share good practice, take part in bench-marking exercises and drive forward service improvement;
  • convince members and chief officers to invest in training and development. Get into schools, provide clear advice and offer work placements to young people because they are your future;
  • do not forget the public - listen and respond to customer feedbackbecause they can be your focus group, your advocates;
  • embrace self-assessments and peer review and look at recognised acknowledgement of good service, eg charter mark, ISO, EFQM, IIP, best value review/inspection; and
  • look to Lacors for advice, guidance and good practice.

I really believe that the glass is half full rather than half empty. I hope Lacors and colleagues in local authority regulatory services in the future will be able to drink to that!

Derek Allen is executive director at Lacors.

Further information can be obtained by visiting the Lacors website at www.lacors.gov.uk

Tracey Khanna puts the spotlight on Derek Allen

TK: Lacors has contributed greatly in ensuring co-ordination and consistency of enforcement in food and trading standards over the last 25 years. Arguably this was down to the fact that those areas had no other co-ordination body at national level. Now that you are moving into areas like health and safety that already have national co-ordination how will you avoid duplication of effort?

DA: We fully respect the roles of other bodies (indeed part of our role is to champion the delivery by those bodies to the benefit of local authorities) and work in partnership where appropriate. With specific regard to health and safety, we ensured that the Health and Safety Executive's Local Authority Unit was supportive, indeed it would be true to say they were enthusiastic and can see a real role for Lacors. Lacors has been very clear in that it wants to add value, not duplicate nor compete. This is achieved through regular dialogue and transparency of approach.

TK: Does the expanded policy role you have signal the fact that local government associations are no longer interested in environmental health, preferring instead to abdicate responsibility?

DA: In our view it is a sign that the LGAs recognise these services need further support and co-ordination to help improve. Lacors' priority is to see the profile of these services raised at a political and senior officer level. The HSE and HELA have both welcomed Lacors extension of remit and see it as a very important signal from the LGAs.

TK: Some would say that the "top slicing' of funds for Lacors takes money directly from local authority services - your comments?

DA: That is why our bids are being increasingly scrutinised by LGAs and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to show they are necessary, deliver improvement and add value. However, it is very clear that the small amount of money top sliced for central bodies delivers significant benefits to all LAs that would not be there if the money was shared out (the total amount of money that is top sliced for all the central bodies is less than one fifth of 1 per cent of the total government grant).

TK: How will Lacors work more positively and inclusively with professional bodies like CIEH in the future under your leadership?

DA: Lacors always works with relevant professional partners and this is evidenced by including representatives on our advisory groups that form the backbone of our work. We do work in partnership on particular projects (for example the joint statement with CIEH on Haccp and small businesses, and the ongoing work on licensing and prior approval of food premises). Where the CIEH is developing practice guidance for its members in health and safety we will certainly promote it to local authorities.

I meet with Graham Jukes regularly to discuss issues of mutual interest. However, it is also important that the professional societies, in this case the CIEH, make efforts to engage and work with Lacors for the benefit of its members working in local government and indeed the communities they serve. They can help us develop the important role we play in providing effective support, co-ordination, assist with consistency and share good practice to drive improvement in local authority regulatory services.

On occasions we will have differing views as Lacors represents local government employers and the CIEH its members, but mostly it is a common agenda and it is in all our interests that we make a major contribution to the delivery of high quality local authority regulatory services.