Business
Primary Authority - what's in it for you
Through Primary Authority your business has access to reliable information based on a detailed understanding of your operations. It prevents inconsistent interpretation of regulations and applies regardless of where stores, factories or offices are based or products are sold.
Tailored advice is available from your Primary Authority with the assurance that it is respected by all local regulators. Your Primary Authority partner can provide other councils with evidence of compliance and recommendations about how to tackle broad issues quickly and effectively, helping drive down business costs.
The four steps below will help you get started - BRDO is here to assist.
- Choose your preferred partner
- Decide what areas of regulation you want to include
- Agree the resources needed
- Contact BRDO on 0121 226 4000 to get things rolling
1: Choose a preferred partner
The local authority must be willing to provide a tailored service that meets your needs. Businesses that are already in Primary Authority partnerships have identified three further factors to consider:
History: Do you have an existing voluntary relationship that can be developed?
Geography: Would one council be natural to approach, on the basis of the location of your head office or relevant personnel? This is a particular consideration where regular face to face meetings are needed.
Expertise: Are you confident that the council concerned can provide sufficiently specialised advice to your business, especially if you operate in a specific sector?
2: Decide what to include
Local regulation currently covered: age-restricted sales; agriculture; animal establishments and companion animal welfare; consumer credit; environmental protection; explosives licensing; fair trading; farm animal health; food safety and hygiene; food standards; general licensing; health and safety; housing; metrology; petroleum licensing; pollution control; product safety; road traffic
3: Agree what resources are needed
At minimum, your business will need advice on specific regulatory matters or assurance that existing procedures meet legal obligations. You may also want an inspection plan to be developed to focus attention on the areas that matter and guide generation of feedback.
You may wish to arrange site visits for Primary Authority officers so they can better understand your business and develop effective approaches. Use our sample-agenda (PDF, 97 Kb) as the basis for an initial meeting with a local authority to discuss a partnership.
Once the level of resourcing is quantified, the financing of the necessary activity must be resolved. Some investment is required to unlock the full benefits of a primary authority partnership but this should be offset by savings achieved through more efficient enforcement .
4: Telephone BRDO on 0121 226 4000
We'll help you get started.
