Primary Authority Partnership

Primary authorities provide robust, bespoke advice that must be respected by all other local regulators in the UK. This enables businesses to invest with confidence in products, practices and procedures, knowing that the resources they devote to compliance are well spent.

The BTHA has had a primary authority partnership with Milton Keynes for some years. However, the primary authority scheme changed on 1 October 2017 and in August 2017 the BTHA signed a new agreement with Milton Keynes Council and entered into a coordinated primary authority partnership under the new scheme.

The objective for BTHA membership of the scheme is to get certain generic guidance documents already produced for members ‘assured’. When advice or documents are assured by a primary authority, under certain circumstances, members following the guidance can be defended against any legal action within the UK.  Toys (Safety) Regulations Guides 1-9 have been assured under the Primary Authority Scheme. Any BTHA assured documents have an additional page highlighting this feature.

The level of assurance that these documents can give individual members is detailed below.

BTHA Coordinated Primary Authority Partnership

BTHA members which are included within the ‘regulatory group’, as decided by the BTHA, will be able to legally rely on primary authority advice issued by Milton Keynes Council via the BTHA.

This primary authority advice will be tailored to the collective needs and circumstances of the businesses that will be eligible to receive it.

Any proposed enforcement action in the UK against any BTHA members within the ‘regulatory group’ that is inconstant with this BTHA primary authority-assured advice, will be ‘directed against’. This means that Milton Keynes Primary Authority may direct an enforcing authority not to take proposed enforcement action (thereby blocking the enforcement action) where such action is inconsistent with primary authority advice.

BTHA members who are part of the ‘regulatory group’ under the coordinated primary authority arrangement with Milton Keynes Council CAN also have a direct primary authority partnership with Milton Keynes Council or another local authority of their choice.

BTHA members which are included in the coordinated primary authority scheme, and which also have a direct primary authority partnership, are able to enjoy the benefits of legally relying on BTHA primary authority-assured advice and can also obtain other primary authority-assured advice tailored to their individual business needs and circumstances. They will have control over any questions and requests for advice at their own cost.

How do I become part of the BTHA primary authority ‘regulatory group’?

Full members of the BTHA are all invited by the BTHA to join the primary authority ‘regulatory group’.

Members of the primary authority ‘regulatory group’ can benefit from the work the BTHA undertakes with Milton Keynes Council but will not be able to specify or influence that work or make individual requests for advice.

Members must read and agree to our scheme rules for participating members. These are sent out annually with BTHA membership renewal forms and code of practice for members.

Company details of members that are part of the ‘regulatory group’ will be logged on to the regulatory delivery website as a participating member.

BTHA full members can choose to opt out of being a member of the scheme by contacting admin@btha.co.uk at any time.