The one-day conference on Tuesday 31st October was attended by nearly 100 local authority officers involved in enforcing regulations from across the south east. Principal speakers were William Sargent, Executive Chair of BRE, Geoffrey Theobald – Chair of LACORS and Tony Mernagh from the BHEP. The event was chaired by the BHEP Chair, Simon Fanshawe.

William Sargent outlined the measures that the government has undertaken in the light of the Hampton Review to ease the burden of regulation on businesses. Geoffrey Theobald spoke about the work of LACORS (the Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services), which provides advice and guidance to help support local authority regulatory and related services.

Tony Mernagh outlined why small businesses in particular feel red tape is a burden but stressed that the vast majority want to comply with the law. However, they are often overwhelmed by the quantity and complexity of rules and regulations and he encouraged the regulators to adopt a ‘light touch’ in their dealings with SMEs.