Lead Authority Partnership Scheme (LAPS) - Resource implications/HELA Audit Protocol
LAPS provides a local authority with a great opportunity to work in a strategic way. The benefits of improved safety management performance in the case of a company will be felt across the whole organisation. In the same way the contribution made by a Lead Authority to the work of a trade or other association will be cascaded down through its membership.
The resources devoted to LAPS clearly have the potential to deliver improved compliance at a national level with a consequent need for less intervention by other LAs across the sector.
LAPS also has other advantages which are particularly relevant today, where we've seen an unprecedented growth in the number of financial, hospitality, leisure and entertainment businesses all in the "new economy" and LA enforced sector. These medium to large multi-outlet companies provide a unique opportunity for LAs to demontrate their ability to act strategically and consistently through the Lead Authority Principle.
Both HSC and HELA accept that successful partnership working requires a LA to invest resources in the familiarisation process, safety management review and ongoing liaison. However HELA also believes more LAPS can help achieve greater consistency of enforcement and a greater degree of consistent compliance by national businesses etc in LAPS.
To reflect these national benefits the HELA Audit Protocol has been amended to acknowledge that there will be a trade-off in resources between programmed inspections and partnership development. The wording of this amendment is set out below and this new approach will be applied to future HELA audits and inter-authority audits.
Best practice:
Who is the partnership with? (Name and type of Organisation, eg Company, Trade Association, etc.)
If the partner is a company-
What is the full-time equivalent resource spent on LAPS?
How many enquiries does the LA receive from other LAs, Partners etc?
(Consideration should be given by the auditor to the strategic benefits achieved by the LAPS and that this might reduce the quantity of other activity eg inspections carried out by the LA. The national benefits achieved, eg activity on priority programmes, should be considered when the LAs compliance score is assessed for the managed work programme and overall.)