The majority of Lord Heseltine’s proposals for dealing with the mainly "fragmented, duplicative and often poorly resourced" representative trade bodies in the UK have been approved by the government. <br />
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However, the idea that government and relevant industry sectors should jointly decide on lead associations that will represent their industry in talks with government has been partly accepted.<br />
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Lord Heseltine's “No Stone Unturned in Pursuit of Growth” report consists of 89 wide-ranging recommendations that examines the way trade body representation works throughout the United Kingdom. A prominent theme throughout Heseltine’s proposal is the implementation of a lead association instead of the current status quo of various membership associations, organisations and bodies.<br />
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The UK currently has approximately 3,500 different trade bodies ranging in quality and focus. As news released that the government would only be accepting the part of the former Deputy Prime Minister’s report, a new body launched – the Direct Employers Association.<br />
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Heseltine suggests that both the government and industry sectors “should jointly nominate lead trade associations to represent sectors in their dialogue with government” and “should invite trade associations, through the lead associations for their sectors, to submit precise redrafting of existing regulations prior to wider consultation on any changes.”<br />
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Reaction in the recruitment sector had been mixed, with some bodies offering cautious acceptance of the proposals with others adopting a more critical stance. <br />
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Chief Executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), Kevin Green, welcomed Lord Heseltine's ideas to challenge<em> "the proliferation of fragmented and duplicated trade associations by providing a co-ordinated voice for the industry.</em>" Adrian Marlowe of the Association of Recruitment Consultancies (ARC) sees it as potentially creating a rift between the lead bodies chosen to have dialogue with ministers and the rest.<br />
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The government will only accept 81 of the recommendations either in full or in part. Three will be given additional consideration, while five have been rejected completely.