Some councils cutting regulatory services budgets by 30%+, research finds

Some local authorities have slashed their budgets for regulatory services – comprising environmental health, trading standards and licensing – by more than 30% for 2011/12, research by the Local Better Regulation Office has revealed.

The LBRO survey found that local authorities were planning average cuts of 8.8% to their spend on regulatory services. This amounts to a £63m reduction and is significantly higher than the 5.7% overall cuts to local authority budgets for service delivery.

Key findings from the report in relation to English authorities include:

• Trading standards budgets were down by 11.4%
• Environmental health budgets (including licensing) fell by 8%
• There was considerable variation in the level of impact on regulatory services between local authorities, ranging from cuts of more than 40% to increases of 10% and above.
• Most local authority regulatory services faced cuts of 10% or more

The average cuts in Wales – at 5.9% – were less severe than in England but were “high in relation to the overall cut in local authority service expenditure in Wales of 1.2%”, the LBRO said. As in England, trading standards took a greater hit than environmental health with a 7.4% cut compared to 5.3%.

LBRO Chief Executive Graham Russell said: "If we want to continue to have a regulatory system that we can be proud of, then we must adapt to the changing reality of the economy and public expectations. We must embrace change, embrace the challenge, and innovate our way to doing more with less."

A copy of the report can be downloaded here.