Residents First

Red tape slashed for small businesses

The council at the forefront of the national drive to reduce red tape is making it easier than ever before for small and medium sized businesses to bid for council work.

Hammersmith & Fulham Council has been at the very heart of efforts to scrap useless and time-consuming regulations ever since it published a list of 105 ways for central government to deliver more for less during the age of austerity by removing pointless layers of bureaucracy.

Many of those suggestions have now been taken up. Now, to make life easier for businesses, council tenders are processed electronically which has resulted in more streamlined and consistent processes for suppliers. In addition, unnecessary questions regarding equal opportunities, health and safety and environmental matters have been removed from the pre-qualification questionnaires that suppliers have to complete.

Simpler rules for traffic signs welcomed

New guidance on traffic and parking signs is making it easier for councils to get rid of unnecessary signage and de-clutter the nation’s streets.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has responded to calls from Hammersmith & Fulham Council for more flexibility when deciding what signs or parking lines are created. As a result, the DfT has agreed to make signage ‘simpler’ and of a ‘more concise design’, and to remove unnecessary or duplicated signs.

The council called for the move last September (2010) as part of its 105 ways to slash red tape.

Cllr Nick Botterill, deputy leader of H&F Council and cabinet member for environment, said:

“This is great news for the enemies of waste and bureaucracy and is a victory for common sense. We have been saying for years that traffic sign rules and regulations are too prescriptive and this has spawned far too many street signs that lead to confusion and gridlock. Allowing councils to keep signage to a minimum will make things clearer for all road users and will reduce the need for ugly pillars or posts on our streets.”

Scrap red tape urges council

Government proposals to scrap useless and time-consuming regulations that hinder community groups from organising local events have been welcomed by the council that first suggested stripping away unnecessary red tape.

In September 2010, flagship local authority, Hammersmith & Fulham Council published a list of 105 ways for central government to deliver more for less during the age of austerity by removing pointless layers of bureaucracy.

Many of those suggestions were centred around simplifying the Licensing Act 2003.

The act states that small groups need to have the correct paperwork if they want to arrange private events where a charge is made to raise money for charity, school plays and productions, Punch and Judy performances and even magician’s shows.

Now a Government consultation is asking residents what they think about consigning this 'ball and chain' of regulatory burdens to the scrap heap once and for all and to remove the need for a licence from as many types of entertainment as possible.

Council backs red tape bonfire

Hammersmith & Fulham Council has welcomed moves by the Government to free local authorities from the 'ball and chain' of regulatory burdens.

The Department for Communities and Local Government on Monday released a list of 1,264 rules and regulations that local authorities have to abide by and is asking councils which they think should be consigned to the scrap heap.

Last September, H&F Council, which is 'Council of the Year' according to the Local Government Chronicle submitted 105 ways for Westminster to release local authorities from the shackles of bureaucracy and
regulations.

The council argued that in the era of austerity, government would be able to deliver more-for-less if it tore up unnecessary layers of red tape and allowed councils to get on with the job themselves without
interference.

H&F plan huge admin savings with shared services

Saving admin costs through councils jointly delivering services is becoming more widespread. But the initiative of my council, Hammersmith and Fulham with Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea is pretty radical.  Savings could be between £50 million and £100 million a year.

It does still allow for political differences between the boroughs. For instance when we were discussing the proposals I asked if the criteria for closing or opening a school or a library could be different in one borough to another - I was assured it could be. Councillors will still make the decisions in their own boroughs - this is about the delivery of the services being more efficient.

Here is the joint statement from Cllr Colin Barrow, Leader, Westminster City Council, Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh, Leader, Hammersmith and Fulham Council and Cllr Sir Merrick Cockell, Leader, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on service mergers between the three authorities, following the CSR statement, launching a project to merge services with plans to be agreed by February 2010.

Pickles visits H&F to back our war on red tape

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles, "Public Chum Number One", came Hammersmith Town Hall this morning and announced the abolition of Local Area Agreements. This is a very welcome easing on the bureaucratic burdens on Town Halls. It was item two on our "105 Town Hall regulations that should be scrapped."

Another important theme of this morning's speech was how councils could save money by doing tightening their accounting practices. An auditors investigation into Islington found from checking invoices to 30 of their top suppliers 10had been paid twice - another two had been paid three times. While Experian has estimated that £147 million could be saved in Town Halls across the country by putting proper checks in place. At Leeds they recovered over half a million in overpayments.

Here is the speech in full:

How to cut red tape

The country's most efficient council has revealed a list of 105 ways for central government to deliver more for less during the age of austerity.

Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council bosses argue that - with October's Comprehensive Spending Review expected to be the toughest in a generation - large savings could be made and cuts to front-line services avoided if useless and time-consuming regulations were ditched.

The council, which was recently crowned 'Council of the Year' by the Local Government Chronicle, is pushing Whitehall to free local authorities from the 'ball and chain' of regulatory burdens and give them more scope to get on with the job themselves. The list has been presented to Government officials for their consideration.

H&F claims that if the changes were made the council would save a minimum of £500,000 or £200 million across the country. Nine million council officer hours a year would be saved across Britain not counting the millions of hours that residents and business are spending on dealing with the red-tape their end, according to the council.