A Primary Authority Partnership is a legally recognised partnership formed between any organisation and a local authority. The local authority then becomes their 'Primary Authority'. The business can rely on the Local Authority for robust authoritative advice in the areas of food safety and health and safety.
Where a business has sites across other local authority areas, and are therefore regulated by a variety of councils, the partnership can be used to ensure a consistent approach to the application of food and safety law.
The partnership can carry out confidential audits of procedures and premises, verify your Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (known as HACCP) plan and provide impartial advice on matters which are of concern. It can also help businesses to plan by providing advice on the continuing changes to the regulatory landscape.
Primary authority partnerships can reduce costs by providing certainty to businesses, reducing risk and aiding compliance. Benefits include:
- legally-binding agreement
- offers a single point of contact at the local authority/dedicated officer who gets to know your business
- offers reliable and robust assured advice
- ensures consistency of regulation across all sites
- can help to reduce unnecessary checks and inspections for businesses
- helps to reduce business risk
- helps with the resolution of compliance issues
- recognised by other local authorities
- can prevent enforcement action being taken if advice has been followed
For more information on Primary Authority Partnerships, please visit the GOV.UK website.
Please contact us if you are interested in setting up a Primary Authority partnership. Please email ehealth@easthants.gov.uk or phone 01730 266551.