LAU News - May 2008

Health and safety newsletter for local authorities

Editorial by Nick O’Donnell

Despite the onset of summer, it promises to be a busy few months on the HSE/LA Partnership front. We are presently carrying out a comprehensive evaluation of the Partnership and during the Summer we plan to carry out a number of stakeholder surveys and interviews to gauge your views on whether the Partnership has been a success and has delivered improved health and safety outcomes. Activity to evaluate the Partnership has been brought forward to inform the HSE Strategy review. The newly formed HSE Board will consider a revised Strategy in the Autumn, hopefully in time for you to incorporate early conclusions into your work plans for 2009/10. We will of course keep you informed of developments.

There was good news for the Partnership following the recent review of HSE undertaken by the Department of Work and Pensions Select Committee. The Select Committee recognised the contribution played by local authority (LA) secondees to the Executive and it supported the continuation of the secondment arrangements. Discussions are taking place on how we best continue to capture expert advice from local authority health and safety professionals.

Your comments

Please feel free to comment on the Newsletter by writing to our dedicated e-mail address with your contributions, comments and suggestions: lau.newsletter@hse.gsi.gov.uk or Tel: 0151-951-3114