§ Mr. BerryTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the applicability of the views attributed to his Department on pages 42 and 43 of "Renewing Local Government" in the English shires to the future of the trading standards service after the proposed division of Berkshire into six unitary authorities. [24547]
§ Mr. Jonathan Evans[holding answer 17 May 1995]: The Government remain committed to the continued provision of an effective and efficient trading standards service following the reorganisation of local government. However, responsibility for particular organisational arrangements, including, allocation of resources to provide the necessary services, such as trading standards services, which will best service the needs of their respective communities, is a matter for individual authorities.
Where they are unable to provide a satisfactory service from their own resources, it is opened to new unitary authorities to enter into voluntary co-operative arrangements with neighbouring authorities. Smaller 430W authorities in particular may wish to consider entering into such arrangements. In areas where reorganisation leaves in place a previous provider of the service, new authorities may wish to consider the scope for sharing an existing capability.