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Small businesses may dread a visit from local council officers, but there can be positive outcomes, says Derek Allen. At a time of economic crisis, with businesses, particularly small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs), struggling to survive, probably the last thing you would expect them to want is a visit from a council regulator. Surely, this will be the final straw that breaks the camel's back, and it is a time for less regulation and fewer interventions, from either local or central government lawmakers and law enforcers. My many conversations with business leaders, the organisations which represent them, and the regulators themselves, allow me to feel quite well informed on these matters. So, you may be surprised to hear that many SMEs, once they have got over the initial fear that the inspector, be he or she an environmental health officer, trading standards officer, or licensing officer, is not there to shut them down or just prosecute them, and that they are their to help them comply with the most important and highest-risk regulatory requirements, they usually welcome the visit. Most interactions and interventions from council regulatory services are positive ones, where both parties work to find cost-effective solutions to regulatory compliance. Colleagues working in the sector often cite the array of ‘voluntary' assurance schemes and the extremely high-quality type standards imposed by bigger businesses, for example supermarkets, which can ‘gold plate' requirements that far exceed any regulatory requirements. This can add significant costs to the business, making it very difficult for SMEs to meet these non-statutory requirements, leading to the SME either not bidding for the contract in the first place or sometimes, having to pull out of the contract altogether. The regulations which most often keep these entrepreneurs awake at night are usually centred around prescriptive employment law, tax requirements and returns – especially VAT – and occasionally health and safety in the workplace. Interestingly, the only ones which councils – and the Health and Safety Executive – have direct responsibility for enforcing are the health and safety regulations. So, it is not that regulations are a total anathema to businesses and they dislike them unconditionally, it is more about how they are enforced. What they want is a level playing field, where the principles of better regulation are properly and effectively applied. For example, they are enforced in a proportionate way, carefully targeted, and are risk-based and intelligent-led. They don't expect a ‘one-size-fits all' approach, and welcome regulatory services being tailored for the particular business or sector and locality. The challenge during tough economic times is to first prove that the alleged great untruth, ‘We're from the council and we're here to help' is, in fact, true, and that not only do those services provide genuine support and added value to businesses, they also target and focus on the real rogues, for example, those outside the system, not on council databases, and who have no intention of complying with the law. They rarely trade on the high street and therefore, regulators can't just pop in and take a look and see. However, this is difficult, challenging and uncomfortable territory, as some of these characters are serious criminals who can resort to unsavoury tactics to avoid being caught. But councils have a good track record on this, and it is imperative that they are supported and recognised by their senior managers, local and national politicians and the public. And, of course, the media, who usually prefer to cover the negative stories such as ‘ealf and safety gone mad', rather than the many positive regulatory activities councils are delivering across the country. For LACORS, we will continue to provide support to these services, contribute to their ongoing improvement, for example, through the regulatory excellence framework and work with the key business organisations inclusing the British Chambers of Commerce, the Federation of Small businesses and the British Retail Consortium, to ensure we help council's more effectively support the businesses in their areas, which, when all is said and done, are the absolute backbone of both the local and national economy and, quite frankly, our future recovery depends on them. Derek Allen is executive director at LACORS

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WHITEHALL

A helping hand

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