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Implementing the EU Services Directive – 6 August 2009 update

Welcome to our latest update on implementation of the Services Directive in the UK.  Work to deliver the Directive’s requirements by the year-end deadline is continuing at a fast pace across the different areas, and this newsletter summarises some of the most important developments.  More information can be found on our website which we will continue to revise as work progresses. 

Screening at local level

In May we asked all local authorities in the UK to screen their locally used Acts, bye-laws, and other requirements that they place on service providers for compliance with the Directive. Screening flowcharts and worked examples were provided to guide you through this process, and they can also be found here.

All reporting forms need to be e-mailed to BIS by 30 September, which is now only next month. We hope that all local authorities have started screening and if not we encourage you to do so as soon as possible. Initial indications are that most local authorities will need to make relatively few amendments to their legislative requirements and administrative practices.

Local authority connection to ELMS (the new name for the PSC)

Following a security review of ELMS (Electronic Licence Management System) it has been agreed that there is no requirement for authorities to use GCSx (or GSX in Scotland) to connect to ELMS. The connection will therefore be done over a secure web link (using https: protocol). It is hoped that will help minimise the preparation work for authorities and facilitate the implementation whilst ensuring strong security standards.

For the avoidance of doubt, registration of users on the Government Gateway is still required, further information about this is on the EU Services Directive Community of Practice (see below).

Electronic payments

Please note that during the month of August, we will be issuing more detailed technical guidance to local and competent authorities about what they need to do to ensure that they are ready to link to the PSC/ELMS by the December deadline.

We started this process by issuing guidance on “Implementing Payments” to all our Primary Liaison Points (PLPs) on Tuesday 4^th August, which sets out the steps your authority needs to take in order to be ready to accept electronic payments by December 2009.  This is now also on our website and can be found on the link below:

Implementing payments: ELMS electronic licence management system (formerly the PSC) (1860KB)

Services Directive Community of Practice

The EU Services Directive Community of Practice is now live and available at the Communities of Practice website (search for EU Services Directive). It is a website hosting a forum, a document library and other interactive features which encourage you to "share it to solve it". Hosted by the IDeA, co-managed by BIS and LACORS, this is the area where you can exchange information, ask questions, and receive answers to/from colleagues. To date we have 170 members in the community and the number is increasing on an hourly basis.

The community also hosts an "offline demonstration" of the PSC which will give you an insight into the current development stage and illustrate some aspects of the process which has been discussed in past workshops.  Please e-mail us if you have any issue registering.

Rolling out the IMI system

So far over 20 UK competent and local authorities have registered for the IMI pilot scheme. The feedback so far is positive with users finding the system intuitive, quick, easy to use and potentially beneficial for their authority. We are encouraging all authorities to register and to take advantage of the pilot phase as this is the only opportunity available to test the system and ensure your authority is ready before the 'live' date in December. Please e-mail us to register.

We have updated our website to include training materials, latest developments, news from the European Commission and peer reviews as well as adding specific IMI questions to the FAQs section. This should provide authorities with all the information that they will need during the pilot phase and it will be updated regularly with any developments.

We also hold an online forum on the Communities of Practice website that enables authorities to ask the BIS IMI coordinators questions whilst sharing information and ideas with other authorities.