Primary Authority A Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue perspective

Lincolnshire One of England’s largest Counties Predominantly rural Small market towns Lincoln City East coast strip Many small businesses

Lincolnshire’s approach to compliance Encouragement over enforcement Educate & Inform Support small businesses Leave well managed businesses alone Formal enforcement a last resort Prosecute where in the public interest

Primary Authority – A New Strand Means of rewarding those businesses who want to get it right Reduce compliance costs and frustration Tackle inconsistency amongst regulators

British Frozen Food Federation The UK’s frozen food trade association Over 300 members comprising Producers, Wholesalers, Importers, Exporters, Brokers, Retailers and related Associate businesses. Membership ranging from large companies to SMEs

British Frozen Food Federation Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue were approached by the BFFF Discussions commenced We liked them and they liked us Opportunity identified that met with our goals Scheme agreed

Main considerations A trade organisation is able to support smaller businesses less able to afford specialist advice Lincolnshire based organisation Wanted to work with us

Innovation A business having premises in only one regulators area can now benefit from Primary Authority advice and support

Lessons learnt Benefits of partnering with a trade organisation are two way Working with the BFFF health & safety committee Overstocking at Christmas – we learnt that our campaign was too late Businesses, despite being in competition are happy to work together Sharing what they have learned & paid for with others in the interests of improved safety culture

Summary We now have a new strand in our compliance strategy We now have a valuable new partner helping us better understand business needs UK now has a scheme where Primary Authority is accessible to businesses working out of a single county Together we reduce the burden on business

Thanks BFFF for approaching us and their enthusiasm, commitment & ongoing support BRDO for agreeing to the ‘co-ordinated partnership’ approach and their ongoing support Joanna Hancock & Crystal Holmes (BFFF) Keiron Davey (LFR)