As an owner, manager or operator of a business, charity or other organisation, regulatory requirements can be daunting, confusing and difficult to put into context for your business.
To help you comply with fire safety law, we offer Primary Authority Partnerships to provide reliable and consistent regulatory support.
The main fire safety law for England and Wales is the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
Complying with regulation
Primary Authority is an alternative method for businesses to comply with regulation.
Businesses can range from large businesses operating across the country to very small locally based businesses with just a few employees. They include businesses as diverse as farm-based market traders, breweries, tyre fitters, betting shop operators and high street retailers.
The successful growth and development of Primary Authority now enables businesses of all shapes and sizes to benefit from proactive support from us to get advice from the outset rather than intervene should things go wrong.
Primary Authority partnership
In a legally recognised Primary Authority partnership we will:
- Work with you to develop a clear understanding of your business model and compliance needs for fire safety
- Liaise with other fire and rescue authorities on your behalf if you trade across fire service boundaries to act as a single point of contact for fire service colleagues
- Work with you to develop necessary and proportionate advice which is bespoke to your business needs. You can be confident that if the advice issued by your Primary Authority partner is followed it applies across the business and cannot be easily challenged by other fire authorities – giving you assurance and time to focus on your core business development.
- Support you in the development of policies and procedures to comply with your fire safety requirements
- Work with our partner regulators to offer the full range of regulatory support through a single portal.
The gov.uk website has information about the wider aspects of Primary Authority
We share knowledge, resources and expertise to provide the best support and advice for local businesses.
The Primary Authority scheme is the Government's preferred route to improving compliance by regulators and businesses working together to protect our communities and support business growth.
Cost recovery
The statutory Primary Authority scheme is operated on a cost-recovery basis enabling local regulators to recover only the costs incurred by the authority in delivery of the partnership. The cost recovery rate (April 2020) is £90 per hour (VAT is not applicable to Primary Authority 3services as they are regulatory in nature and can only be delivered by Local Authorities)
Contact Us
If this is something that you would wish to explore further, please contact:
A word or two from Eastbourne Hospitality Association
“Our Primary Authority partnership gives us easy access to quality advice on areas which matter to our members and can be relied upon. We can confidently seek advice on regulation which our members may need clarifying but not wanted to ask the regulators directly. Advice on fire safety, food standards and safety are areas of priority to over 100 of our members and getting this right from the outset helps keep our staff, visitors and guests safe and shows our commitment to promoting Eastbourne as a great place to visit knowing that we care take our responsibilities seriously and positively work with our local councils and fire and rescue service.”
Supporting Documentation
Related Legislation and further reading
All the legislation underpinning Primary Authority can be downloaded via the website of the Office of Public Sector Information.
The relevant documents are:
Businesses we are engaged with as the Primary Authority include:
Eastbourne Hospitality Association - Care homes - Accommodation providers - Independent schools - Retail and restaurants chains - Waste and recycling sector
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