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Welcome to the December update on the Services Directive and its implementation in the UK. As you will no doubt already know, we are now a mere 19 days (that’s 12 working days!) away from the 28th December when the Services Directive becomes UK law.
We’re aware that the Christmas period can be a hectic time at work, so please note that there will be support available on all working days over Christmas. You can contact us regarding general enquiries on servicesdirective@bis.gsi.gov.uk and for more technical queries the ELMS team will be available on elms@businesslink.gsi.gov.uk.
All of your hard work and cooperation has been very much appreciated over the last few months, and we hope that most of you are prepared and indeed excited to use the ELMS system which is now live…
1. I am pleased to announce that the ELMS service went live on Monday 7th December. Authorities will now be able to configure the BIS provided online services they will be using and complete the final tasks on the key task list i.e. Task 16: Create ‘Processing Departments’ and Assign Users, Task 17: Localise Formalities (self-service configuration) & Task 18: Test Payment Engine.
However, before accessing the live system, authorities must ensure that they:
a) Complete the following tasks (http://elmsportal.businesslink.gov.uk/authority/tasks):
b) Read the ELMS System Release Note: http://elmsportal.businesslink.gov.uk/page/elmsreleasenote – this gives more detail about:
Note: public access to the live online applications facilities, for both UK and European service business users, will be available after 21st December ready for the EU Services Directive coming into force on 28th December. Although highly unlikely, it is possible that authorities may receive applications from the 21st December, although the availability of the service will not be publicised until after 28th December.
2. The next release of the Website toolkit, Version 04, will be available by no later than Thursday 10th December. We apologise for the delay but we are keen to ensure that the information is thoroughly checked to ensure that the contents are fully compliant with the Directive and readily available for authorities who wish to use it.
Authorities should note that the website toolkit's page templates are there as examples only, so that you do not start with "a blank page." Authorities may use and/or edit them to suit their particular circumstances.
Please also note that the forms published on the Community of Practice should NOT be hosted on your individual websites. These forms are shown for information purpose only and will be hosted on the Businesslink site, your logo, contact details will automatically be added to them. The sequence of tasks on http://elmsportal.businesslink.gov.uk gives you an overview of the process.
We propose to release the templates for the few remaining Local Authority formalities as they are readied – we will notify Local Authorities of this via the Community of Practice and the ELMS portal. The list of what is outstanding will be supplied with version 04. Changes will be needed to the URLs that will link to the PSC - this will be documented with Version 04.
3. As part of Task 5: Provide URLs to Local Directgov, your Web Portal Officer should some time ago have received your authority’s spreadsheet from Local Directgov. If you have not received this, please contact localdirectgov@communities.gsi.gov.uk.
Please note that the remaining Local Authorities who have not yet uploaded their URL spreadsheet to Local Directgov should do so, as a priority, to indicate which forms they will be using. Please do this straight away even if some of your links are not currently available or your authority has not yet finished updating your website information (Task 14). You will be able to upload a second spreadsheet when all the links have been confirmed.
4. As part of Task 8: Provide Formality Configuration Information, you should have received emails 1, 2 and 3. If you have not received one or more of these emails, please contact servicesdirective@bis.gsi.gov.uk
Please note that there are two “known facts” per authority and that they do not correspond to individual types of licence.
5. As part of Task 15: Set up ELMS Users, each Local Authority’s “known facts” letter has now been sent and should have been received by recorded delivery to your PLP. If your Authority has not received this letter, you should email elms@businesslink.gsi.gov.uk with the subject ‘Known Facts.’
“Known facts” letters will go out to Competent Authorities this week.
Further to the November technical note issued on 19th November, please note that there is no cost associated with registering on the Government Gateway
6. We would like to remind authorities that the familiarisation environment is available for Authorities who have implemented the payment engine they will be using on ELMS and who have completed Tasks 5 and 7 and returned Email 1 as part of Task 8.
The familiarisation environment will continue to be available for training and practice whilst the ELMS system is live so we strongly recommend that you register and use it to understand how ELMS works, to learn how to configure and localise the system and to get an understanding of its functionality. For more information please see http://elmsportal.businesslink.gov.uk/authority/tasks/10.
7. Before using the ELMS system each user must read the Authority Security Handbook. This document provides an overview of the required standards to be maintained by HMRC, BIS, and Local and Other Competent Authorities (Authorities).
These standards comprise of:
The Security Handbook is available at http://elmsportal.businesslink.gov.uk/media/61
8. There are two clauses in the Zoo Licence Act 1981 referring to the granting of a licence that explicitly mention posting notification of whether the licence has been granted or refused. However, the Services Directive requires that authorities are able to transact electronically with service providers, including notifying them of the outcome of their application.
As such, you may post the documentation of a licence or the notification of refusal but only after the applicant has first been informed electronically. This legislation will be amended to reflect the requirements of the Services Directive and cannot be cited by an Authority as a reason not to comply with this aspect of the Directive.
9. We have continued to communicate the benefits and opportunities of the Directive to businesses, especially the Point of Single Contact. We are also advising businesses of the requirements for service providers to supply certain information to service recipients. Several Trade Associations and business organisations have included information in articles about the Services Directive in their publications.
If you would like hard copies of our business-facing flyers or posters, please contact us on servicesdirective@bis.gsi.gov.uk.
10. Guidance for business on the Provision of Services Regulations
(814KB)
has been available on our website since early October. You may find Chapter 4 particularly useful as it refers to what businesses can expect from UK Local and Competent Authorities.
