The Conservative cabinet at County Hall plans to start charging businesses almost £60 an hour for advice it receives from Northamptonshire Trading Standards.
The service currently offers free trading standards advice to businesses, regardless of size or the frequency or complexity of inquiries.
It also acts as the home authority of any businesses which have a head office in Northamptonshire, providing them with a single point of contact for advice on compliance with relevant legislation.
Unveiling the plans today, the cabinet member for strategic infrastructure, economic growth and public protection, Councillor Andre Gonzalez de Savage, said the ongoing financial pressures faced by the authority had forced it to look at charging firms for advice on a cost recovery basis and the long-term future of the service “could only be guaranteed if it became self-funding”.
He said: “We simply cannot afford to keep offering this service for free, and by putting a charging structure in place, we can make sure this service continues to exist in the future.
“We have consulted with businesses that we regularly advise and in general, they understood the situation we are facing. We are not alone in this challenge and other local authorities have already begun charging for trading standards business advice.”
The proposals would mean that trading standards would continue to provide free advice by signposting businesses to websites or other sources of information, but anything beyond the most basic advice would be charged at a rate of £58.54 per hour.
Under the plans, start-up businesses would receive up to two hours free trading standards advice to support them. Members of the trading standards Buy with Confidence approved trader scheme already pay an annual fee and will continue to receive support as part of that package.
The plans are expected to be given the go-ahead at meeting next Wednesday.