From the editor-in-chief Review ideas need doing, not dousing Chris Fay Editor-in-chief chrisf@tsi.org.uk When the UK was going crazy over exploding hoverboards, one of our American consumer-protection cousins offered the worst advice I have ever seen: Have a working fire extinguisher nearby while charging or using these boards in and around your home. This is an astonishing suggestion, which conjures up images of a clumsy dad, armed with a fire extinguisher, riding his own hoverboard in an attempt to keep a close watch on his more nimble child. Were not quite at that point in the UK yet, but there is some confusion over tumble dryers yet another product recall and safety issue that has devastated lives and made the headlines. With the topic getting deserved media attention, Lynn Faulds Woods product-recall review could not have come at a more opportune moment; sadly, the governments response is just another missed opportunity. All stakeholders, including manufacturers, agreed that market surveillance was underresourced. They recognise we need well-funded trading standards services to deliver product-safety and product-recall support for manufacturers, consumers and retailers. Yet the government has chosen to introduce a no-cost solution, and the reintroduction of a national injury database is off the table. Such a database could spot trends among goods that share common and dangerous traits, but which have no single traceable manufacturer hoverboards, for example. Elsewhere in this months TS Today, editor Carina Bailey reports on the opportunities for regulatory services discussed at the Year Ahead 2016 conference. With a nod to the EU referendum, William Harris looks at how the issuing of directives by a central bureaucracy goes back further than many of us may think. And with a potential 3bn up for grabs from the apprenticeship levy, Richard Strawson considers what that means for the profession. Thanks for reading.