PAPER A

POLICY COMMISSION MEETING

Meeting	Policy Commission for Safer Communities
Ref	Saf.PC.5/01/06
Date	5 January 2006
Time	18.00hrs
Place	Committee Room 1, County Hall, Newport
Purpose of meeting	Formal public meeting
Attendance	Commission	Cllrs David Williams (Commissioner); Henry Adams; Vanessa Churchman; Heather Humby; Susan Scoccia; Arthur Taylor; Diane Tuson
	Cabinet	Cllrs Barry Abraham; Andy Sutton
	Secretariat
	Officers	Mr Andrew Shorkey; Ms April West; Ms Sue Lightfoot; Mr Rob Owen
	Other Members	Cllr Ian Stephens
	Stake holders / Experts	Mr Kevin Smith, Chief Executive, IW Chamber of Commerce
	Apologies
Agenda Items
1. To agree the evidence arising at the meeting held on 15 December 2005 (Paper A)	The notes of the previous meeting were agreed as a true record of the evidence received.
2. Declarations of interest	Cllrs Henry Adams; Vanessa Churchman and Barry Abraham declared that they were business owners and consequently subject to enforcement activities.
3. Corporate Enforcement To receive an update on the project - Mr Rob Owen, Head of Consumer protection (Paper B)	1. The development of a corporate enforcement approach to enforcement activities was intended to reduce the burden on businesses through the consolidation of enforcement activity in order to support the local economy. 2. There was a need to carry out an enforcement audit across the organisation in order to be able to determine the best route forward. 3. The impact of forthcoming regulatory legislation should be taken into account as part of this enquiry. 4. A number of models for enforcement have been identified. However, a ‘best practice’ model for corporate enforcement has not yet been identified by Local Government organisations such as the Local Authorities Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS), the Local Government Association (LGA) and the Government Office for the South East (GOSE). 5. The IWC’s Consumer Protection service demonstrates the benefits of consolidating enforcement activities. 6. Any enquiry into the enforcement activity should seek intelligence from the local business community. 7. It was important that inspectors were consulted by Members as part of the enquiry process. 8. Any programme of community consultation should also include visitors to the Island. 9. Enforcement is not an ideal term with respect to the business community. 10. Enforcement should be the last resort in order to support the local economy. Enforcement should only come into play when businesses regularly breach the law. 11. The local economy is mainly made up of micro-businesses (under 10 employees). 12. Approximately 10% of businesses change hands every year.
Action	1. Arrange a meeting to involve Cllr Williams, Rob Owen and Andrew Shorkey to review the scoping of this enquiry. 2. To co-ordinate an audit of council-wide enforcement activities. 3. To co-ordinate a programme of community consultation (to also include visitors to the Island) to identify strengths and weaknesses of this councils approach to enforcement. 4. Monitor Local Better Regulation Office (LBRO) developments and ensure that the lead member is briefed.	Overview and Scrutiny Team Rob Owen / Overview and Scrutiny Team Rob Owen / Overview and Scrutiny Team Rob Owen