Trials of personal budgets, where people receive direct payments to allow them to arrange and buy their own support services instead of getting them from their local council, have raised concerns about the effect on older people.

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An early challenge for the newly launched Local Better Regulation Office is to improve consistency for businesses that trade across council boundaries.

The role of the Office is to help councils and fire services improve protections for consumers and workers and provide better regulatory support to business. Its remit includes trading standards, environmental health, licensing and fire safety services.

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This report from Communities and Local Government sets out responses to the consultation document issued earlier in the year and indicates the general approach that will be taken to give more people a say in local spending. The Government’s ambition is for participatory budgeting to be used in all local authority areas by 2012.

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