Local Authority Regulatory Services (LARS) are an important element of UK local government activity. By enforcing trading standards, environmental health, licensing and fire safety regulations, local authorities protect local communities, consumers, businesses, workers and the environment and create some preconditions for well-being.
The Local Better Regulation Office (LBRO) commissioned a project from RAND Europe in 2010 to better understand the impacts and outcomes of LARS. Up to that point, LARS generally did not measure impacts and outcomes. The importance of their work was not well understood because it was challenging to articulate the difference that they make.
The LBRO asked RAND Europe to help equip LARS with a tool to assess the impact they have on local communities. The project team developed a toolkit around the concept of an impact and outcome dashboard. RAND Europe was also commissioned to support LBRO to disseminate the toolkit, using training events and workshops with local authorities to apply the toolkit in a practical setting. The toolkit is now used in around half of all local authorities in England and Wales.
Jan Tiessen
Claire Celia
Lidia Villalba-van-Dijk
Anais Reding
Christian van Stolk
Tom Ling
This report establishes what is currently known about the impacts and outcomes of Local Authority Regulatory Services (LARS) and develops an understanding of the intervention logic behind five different aspects of the work of LARS: fair trading, health and safety in the workplace, fly-tipping, smoking cessation, and reduction of alcohol harm.
This report contains a toolkit that could be used by Local Authority Regulatory Services (LARS) officials to assess the outcomes and wider impact of their own activities.
This poster, based on a research project carried out by RAND Europe for the Local Better Regulation Office, presents the methodological approach chosen to explore the impacts and outcomes of Local Authority Regulatory Services in UK Local Authorities.
