§ Mr. David PorterTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will make a statement about the plans he has for trading standards departments currently in county councils in areas where the Local Government Commission recommends unitary authorities smaller than county councils;
(2) if he will make it his policy to set up a national Her Majesty's inspectorate of tradings standards, organised regionally, to replace all tradings standards departments currently operated by local authorities; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. McLoughlin[holding answer 17 January 1994]: I have been asked to reply.
The Government consider that trading standards should remain a local authority function. Smaller authorities may wish to consider the option of collaborative arrangements.
The Local Government Commission has been asked to make recommendations for shared arrangements for particular functions in cases where a satisfactory structure is unlikely to be achieved without them. The Government will give careful consideration to any such recommendations.