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to WhyJamie's reoion
Yorks
cigarette saucets beats
the
macntnes toosalty recession
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BvTomWall The LocalGovemmentAssociatio:.

urgedministersto follow the exampi.-
'dithering'
The government is over of Scotland and bar under-r8s fron-.
banning unstaffed coin-operated rrsins srrnheds

sunbedsand barring under-r8s from MargaretEaton,LGA chair, adde;,

'There is
,iA using sunbeds,health campaigners clear evidencethat using :
have warned. s u n b e di n c r e a s e sa y o u n g p e r s o n :
The Department of Health has risk of getting skin cancer.We need:
been considering reguiating the make suresomeoneis on hand to st. :
industry for more than a year children hurting themselves.'
'
but appears no closer to The Welsh Assembly governme:.:
i-+-^1,,-i-^
r n I r u u u c l n Bd. ll .d w . promised this week to prohibit th.
S a r a H i o m , C a n c e r use of sunbedsby under-r8s and ba:.
Research UK's director unstaffed salons,following a report b'.
of health information, the assembly'shealth committee.
accusedthe government Edwina Hart, assemblyhealr:.
^f ..,^^:11^+:-^' ^-l
ur vdLrrrdtrrrE dllu minister, told l'111\:A1l legislatir'.
said there was already meansarecurently being considerei.
e n o u g h e v i d e n c e t o namely primary legislation with th.
'It is
change the law. UK government made through th.
not good enough for Westminster parliament, secondar.
t h e g o v e r n m e n t t o legislation made by the Welsi.
continue vacillating ministers under the umbrella o:
by saying "something e x i s t i n g p r i m a r y l e g i s l a t i o n . a r : :
must be done". legislativecompetencefor the \,\'eis:-.
'We
need action Assembly Government.'
and we need it now,' The committee report, which u:.
she said. publishedlastweek,alsorecommen*-
Ienny Morris, that sunbed salons must rece:'.'-
written informed consent fro:-.
policy officer, said customers and provide protecti,.:
i^: the government was eyewear.
' d r a s s i n gi t s h e e l s '
The Department of Health to.:
and leaving children |1/.\' it acceptedchildren were n.:
a t r i s k o f b u r n i n g sufficiently protectedbut admitted ::
themselvesin unstaffed did not have any plans to introdu::
'I
salons. really believe if legislation.A spokeswomansaid:'\\'.
we do not take action now are not far that far along yeL.We :::
it's going to be several years consideringat the moment what r,,.
beforewe getanotheropportunity,' might do and how it might work.'
shesaid. { Seepage2

HealthandSafety0fficer Southern
Central - ideallyMidlands
region based
s fourthlargest
supermarkets MorrisonsExcellent +
salary benefits

Could
regional
collaboration
inregulatory
services
helpenvironmental
services theproblem
overcome ofshrinking
budgets?
Marie-Glaire
nvironmental health, trading
standards,licensing and fire
safetysewicesacrossYorkshire
and the Humber arecombining
to createa regionalregulatory services
brand.One of its architectssaysthe
project'may hold the key to the
future survival of local authority
environmental health servicesin the
light of staggeringreductionsin finance.'
Ken Eastwood,assistantdirector of
regulatory servicesat BarnsleyMBC,
saysregulatory servicessuffer from an
identitrr nricic
'There's
often a lack of awareness
over where to go for help and advice,'he
says.'We need to find a way of raising
our profile, improving our effectiveness
and efficiency and better deiivering our
servicesto businessesand the wider
public.'
YoHr Regs,funded by Yorkshire and
the Humber's RegionalImprovement
and EfficiencyPartnership,YoHr Space,
focuseson regionalpartnershipand
collaboration,new ways of working
and businessadviceand support.lt
aims to establisha strongeridentity and
potentially a single,regional brand.
Mr Eastwood,the YoHr Regs
programme lead,said:'We know
we'reenteilng a periodof significant
financialchallenge.We hope that by
working togetherwe can shapethe
future together rather than have change
i^m
' ' 'nr n"q" e
' *d l r n n n r r q
'I'm
convinced that our future lies in
collaboration and voluntary unification
of our services.There'sso much more
we can do if we brigade our resources.
This doesnt necessarilyhave to mean
structural or boundary changes,or the
end of our professionalidentities.
'The
stateof the public purseis
inevitably going to lead to significant
changeand now's the time to display
strono leedershin'
YoHrRegs'online hub,Artemis,will
provideofficers,
businesses
andthe
health
Kiddreports
pubiic with the latest socialmedia tools
for peer-to-peersupport, eJearning,best
practice and new approaches.
It will provide online accessto
standarddocumentation,support for
mobile workers and a blog and forum
for public servants.A'twitterlike'
online staff training serviceis also
planned.
Its creatorssay the online hub will
support individual and group decision
making.
'We
needto encouragesharing
and joint working and overcome
professionaljealousiesand rivalries
where they exist,'Mr Eastwoodsays.
'Citizens
and businessesdon't care about
our individual identities and how we've
chosento structureour servicesacross
the region. The soonerwe wake up to
that the better.'
rtemis will also include a
virtual resourcecentre for
businesses, with a repository of
adviceand signpoststo sources
of secondaryadvice.Wizards and
toolkits will give a tailored serviceand
z
o
NEWS
FOCU
a forum will allow businessesto share
experiencesof regulatory services.
Discussionsare progressingwith
Businesslink and DirectGov about
integrating with other projectsseeking
to provide regulation online.
Artemis will give businessesa
strongervoice by enabling regulated
businessesto engagewith one another
and with regional regulatorsand
businessadvisors,'saysMr Eastwood.
'The
inevitableincreasein
standardisationwill reduceinequalities
and variation, simplifying processes
for businesses with multiple outlets.
In time, online self assessments will
empowerresponsible businesses
to assesscompliancewithout
intewention.'
Artemis is alsointended to involve
the public,ultimately through the
establishmentof a singlepoint of
contact in Yorkshire and Humber,
although this requires further
discussionwithin the region.
The Local Better RegulationOffice,
LheWorld ClassRegulatoryServices
Paneland the RegionalImprovement
and Efficiency Partnership,will share
lessonsfrom YoHr Regsto other regions.
If successful,Artemis could be adopted
as a national project.YoHr Regswill also
suppoft the development of mobile and
flexible working, building on the project
led by BarnsleyMBC and SheffieldCity
Council.
Mr Eastwoodsays:'Swingeing cuts
in public expenditurewill mandate
radical and creativethinking, including
around opLionsto deliverservices
acrossorganisationaland geographical
boundaries.
'Changes
of this nature will
inevitably require remote accessto
different back offices, effective data
sharing and the ability to work across
theseboundariesin a time-efficient
way. Mobile and flexible working and
associatedtechnology implementations
will be fundamental enablers.'
Councillor RogerStone,chair of YoHr
Spaceand leaderofRotherham MBC,
said:'We have the active engagement
and backing of leadersand chief
executivesacrossthe region.
'It's
now up to individual regulatory
servicesto step up to the plate, take
advantage of the support and contribute
to the development of world-class
regulatory services.'G
t http://yohrregs.wordpress.com/
{ www.yohrspace.org.uk
20 NOVEMBER
2OO9 EhN 9