Chargeable business advice and Primary Authority Partnerships

Business advice

Upon receipt of a request for advice from a Norfolk based business, we will provide signpost advice and general information about the law to ensure that the business is aware of legislation that applies to that issue.  If more detailed, bespoke or interpretative advice on Trading Standards law is requested, a charge will apply for the provision of the advice.

This charge will be on a cost recovery basis at the hourly rate specified in section P of our fees and charges schedule. Examples of detailed, bespoke or interpretative advice would include requests for:

• Assessment or review of product labels
• Assessment or review of business documents, contract terms and conditions, brochures, websites and adverts
• Assessment of systems or procedures
• Staff training
• Site visits
• Any other advice specifically tailored to the needs of the business.

Primary Authority Partnerships

Norfolk Trading Standards is able to offer Primary Authority Partnerships to businesses.  Primary Authority is a statutory scheme established by the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2009.  It allows an eligible business to form a legally recognised partnership with a single local authority in relation to the provision of tailored advice, guidance and assistance relating to regulatory compliance.

The benefits to businesses include:

• Primary Authority allows businesses to be involved in their own regulation
• Primary Authority makes it easier for businesses to comply with the law, reducing the costs of compliance, without reducing regulatory protections
• Businesses can invest in products, practices and procedures, knowing that the resources they devote to compliance are recognised throughout the country
• New products/services can be planned with targeted clear advice on advertising, packaging and labelling
• When a new regulation is introduced it allows businesses to quickly establish an agreed means of compliance
• Improvements in relationships with regulators
• Improved intelligence about regulatory matters
• Improvements in the consistency of regulatory advice and guidance
• Support for staff development
• Support for addressing incoming regulatory issues from enforcing authorities
• The ability to block enforcement action that is inconsistent with advice from the Primary Authority results in time savings for all parties
• Where appropriate, a national inspection plan can be produced which can avoid unnecessary checks and tests to ensure inspections by other local authorities are coordinated, saving time and resources.

A primary authority agreement with this service will be for a fixed number of hours of chargeable advice per year with a minimum of 30 hours per contract.  These countable hours will include the time taken for initial contract set up and thereafter the time taken for an annual contract review.  These hours will be pre-allocated and are non-refundable if not used.

Further information about Primary Authority Partnerships is available from the Office for Product Safety and Standards.

Payment will be in advance each year. Charging under a Primary Authority Partnership is on a cost recovery only basis as detailed in section O of our fees and charges schedule.

For more information email trading.standards@norfolk.gov.uk