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To progress the Hampton agenda for local enforcement, The Better Regulation Executive established a new body, the Local Authority Better Regulation Group (LABREG) in June 2005. The body, consisting of senior representatives from business, regulators, departments, consumer groups and local government, looked at issues as diverse as best practice, prioritisation, performance management, and risk-based enforcement.
LABREG had been scheduled to consult on its findings in January 2006. In December 2005, however, the Chancellor decided to reinforce the Hampton agenda for local government. In the Pre-Budget Report he announced the creation of the Local Better Regulation Office, to progress the Hampton and LABREG findings. (He also announced that the proposed Consumer and Trading Standards Agency would not now be created, and that instead a refocused Office of Fair Trading would take forward the strategic agenda for trading standards.) In the light of this announcement, LABREG decided not to consult formally on its findings. Instead it delivered a progress report to BRE, and dissolved itself.
While DTI are responsible for taking forward much of the detailed work on LBRO, BRE, together with HMT and DTI are joint sponsors of the initiative. Further, BRE will run LBRO's prioritisation and performance management work stream. This work will look to develop a streamlined and risk-based system of performance management for local enforcers.
Further information on the LBRO is available on the DTI website.
Launched on 5 March 1998, Enforcement Concordat is a transparent, published agreement setting out what businesses can expect from from local enforcers. It encourages enforcers to be risk-based and proportionate in their engagement with business. Adoption of the Concordat is voluntary, yet to date 96% of all organisations within its scope have adopted it.
Further information and a copy of the Enforcement Concordat [PDF, 124KB]
LABREG was asked by the BRE to help develop a new set of guidelines for enforcement, building on Hampton , to update the Enforcement Concordat. The Better Regulation Bill restates the provision in the 2001 Regulatory Reform Act allowing ministers to replace the Concordat with a new Code. The new Code would cover all bodies within the Hampton scope, both national and local, potentially on a statutory basis – although whether the Code will be statutory or voluntary has yet to be determined.
LABREG produced a preliminary draft, called the Compliance Code, on which it intended to consult in January 2006. This is now impossible given LABREG has dissolved. Instead, responsibility for the further development of the Code has been passed back to the BRE. To allow all bodies both inside and outside the LABREG/LBRO process to have their say in developing the Code, BRE officials be engaging with them in due course and will do further work on the Code. They will consult on a revised draft when work is complete.