The Local Government Association (LGA) has called for government support as regulators have faced skills and capacity issues in key professions, according to a report from the National Audit Office (NAO).
The report investigated three regulators whose work has been significantly affected by the UK’s EU exit: the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
Cllr Nesil Caliskan, chair of the LGA’s Safer Stronger Communities Board, said: “With the expansion of capacity needed in national regulators, there is an increased risk that councils’ regulatory services, which are already stretched, will be damaged further as the local professional workforce is recruited into national roles.
“It is therefore essential that the government ensures the right resources and support are supplied to train up the next generation of officers across the full regulatory system, to protect the future of these important roles.”
The report highlighted that the CMA has had long-standing challenges in competing with the private sector when recruiting staff with relevant skills.
In addition, the HSE had to increase staffing in the chemical regulation division by 46% between September 2020 and March 2022. The need for additional personnel is due to the greater demand for authorisation on new regulated products.
The LGA said the report mirrored concerns they had made during the pandemic.
From the results of the report, the NAO recommended regulators build their capacity and skills and flex deadlines or work programmes to match workload to resources.
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