Local authority regulatory services such as trading standards, animal health, environmental health and licensing play a vital role in protecting and supporting local communities in Wales, delivering the outcomes which people need – safer food, cleaner neighbourhoods, healthier workplaces and consumer protection from rogues.
The role of local authorities
The regulatory services of a council include: environmental health, trading standards, pollution control, pest control, building control, advice services, licensing, food safety, health and safety and animal health.
Regulatory services have agreed to target their focus on a set of National Priorities for Wales:
- Protecting individuals from harm and promoting health improvement
- Ensuring the safety and quality of the food chain to minimise risk to human and animal health
- Promoting a fair and just trading environment for citizens and business
- Improving the local environment to positively influence quality of tlife and promote sustainability
Regulatory services are on the front line in protecting the public from many diseases, preventing or responding to outbreaks of Legionella and e-coli for example. Whilst unfortunately some outbreaks occur, much successful preventative work is undertaken daily and often goes unseen and unnoticed.
Animal disease outbreaks, such as foot and mouth, avian influenza and even rabies see regulatory services officers called into action to coordinate and enforce emergency control plans to ensure that animal health and legitimate businesses are protected.
The provision of alcohol licenses, the safety of taxi and private hire vehicles and their drivers, weights and measures accuracy, gambling premises, the monitoring of air quality and contaminated land, all fall within the remit of Regulatory Services – to name but a few.
Trading standards consumer advice is now available six days a week from Consumer Direct, a national helpline jointly operated by local authority trading standards services and the Office of Fair Trading. Any issues which require further investigation are referred to the relevant local authority’s trading standards service. Consumer Direct receives over 95,000 calls per annum from Welsh consumers.
Unregulated, illegal money lending (operated by ‘loan sharks’ who charge between 500% and 11m% interest on loans) is also an issue of concern and an all-Wales unit has been set up to combat this problem. The unit will also provide appropriate support to victims and communities affected, working with other agencies to provide money advice and financial assistance.
Key facts:
- Heath care costs, and damage to business as a result of food borne illness amounts to £1.4 billion every year in the UK.
- Air pollution is estimated to cost up to £20.2 billion per annum in health costs across the UK
- Consumer protection work of local authorities delivers savings to consumers of at least £347million a year. For every £1 local authorities across the UK spend on consumer protection services, they deliver savings of at least £6 to consumers
- annually, over 65,000 consumer cases and around 35,000 business support requests are dealt with by Consumer Direct and trading standards services across the UK.
Further Information
- WLGA
- Local Authorities Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS)
- Chartered Institute of Environmental Health
- Trading Standards Wales
- Trading Standards Institute
- Consumer Direct