Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that Councillor T. Onslow, Wyre Forest District Council be elected Chairman of the Board for the ensuing municipal year.

Councillor Onslow took the opportunity to express her sincere thanks to Board Members for nominating and electing her as Chairman of the Board.

Councillor Onslow also thanked Councillor H. Jones, Bromsgrove District Council, for her work during her role as Chairman of the Board for the last municipal year.

RESOLVED that Councillor J. Spilsbury, Redditch Borough Council be elected Vice-Chairman of the Board for the ensuing municipal year.

At the request of the Chairman and for the benefit of Board Members, all officers present introduced themselves.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor D. Harrison, Malvern Hills District Council and Councillor K. Holmes, Worcester City Councill, with Councillor M. Alcott, Worcester City Council in attendance as the substitute Member for Councillor K. Holmes.

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests.

At this stage in the meeting, Councillor K. Tayor, Bromsgrove District Council arrived.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting of the Worcestershire Regulatory Services Board held on 21^st February 2025, were submitted for Members consideration.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Worcestershire Regulatory Services Board meeting held on 21^st February 2025, be approved as a correct record.

The Deputy Chief Executive and s151 Officer, Bromsgrove District Council (BDC) and Redditch Borough Council (RBC), introduced the report and in doing so drew Members’ attention to the Recommendation as detailed on page 21 of the main agenda pack.

The report covered the period April to March 2025.

Members were informed that as detailed in the report (page 23 of the main agenda pack), that it was being requested that the final surplus amount of £54,227 be added to the Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) reserves; in order to assist with any upcoming cost pressures. Should Board Members reject this request, then the surplus amount would be refunded to Partners.

Members’ attention was drawn to Appendix 5 to the report, WRS Reserve Statement 2024/25.

The Director of WRS highlighted that previously any underspend had been refunded to Partners, however, the Shared Services Partnership Service Level Agreement (SLA) also covered any underspend being added to WRS reserves.

Board Members questioned if the reserves could be summarised and where the underspend had come from.

The Director of WRS referred to Appendix 5 to the report, and in doing so explained that when Worcestershire County Council (WCC) had decided to leave the Partnership, it was agreed that they would have to cover the administration costs and also provide a contribution to the ongoing WRS service following their departure. The General Reserves had come about in 2016. WRS however still managed the Trading Standards service for WCC.

With costs to cover additional salary increases, Officers might have to come back to Partners if they were unable to cover any additional salary costs or could look to use the reserves.

Councillor A. Scott, Worcester City Council (WCC) remarked that he welcomed the unexpected additional £54,227 surplus. However, WCC Members would be keeping an eye as to where the reserves were used / spent.

In response to further questions on Appendix 5 - WRS Reserve Statement 2024/25, the Director of WRS further explained that there had been a delay with some projects commencing but they were now moving forward slowly; there had been changes and some were 3-year projects. The Director of WRS also explained that several of the smaller elements of the reserve were held for other bodies or on behalf of the authorities in the region, so were not just available to WRS. He reassured Members that a number of the reserves would be invested over the next few years, with the General Reserve continuing to be held to provide a buffer, to limit the impact on partners should income generation not yield sufficient funds to cover service costs.

Councillor A. Scott, Worcester City Council (WCC) asked if there were any sudden pressures on the service involving one partner (e.g. Licensing or Environmental Health) could Partners request that reserves were used to support the response to these situations.

At this stage in the meeting, Councillor M. Alcott, Worcester City Council arrived.

The Director of WRS stated that if the service had to deal with a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6/25

The Board considered a report which detailed the Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) Annual Report 2024/2025.

The Director of WRS drew Members’ attention to the Recommendation, as detailed on page 35 of the main agenda pack.

Members were informed that under the Shared Services Partnership Service Level Agreement (SLA) the Board was required to receive the annual report at its annual meeting.

The Director of WRS highlighted that the report covered the performance of the service from 1^st April 2024 to 31^st March 2025. The report covered the performance of the service for this period, both in terms of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and that a short summary activity report was included at Appendix 5 to the report.

Last year saw the continuation of what we might call the “post-covid normal,” levels of activity post pandemic. Previous years had seen the establishment of what might be regarded by many as the new patterns of behaviour and activity that the service would face for the foreseeable future.

The service continued to utilise some of the staff recruited during the pandemic to support work under contract to discharge the Homes 4 Ukraine support for Redditch and Bromsgrove Councils, with support from experienced WRS managers, while several other former covid staff also featured in the planning enforcement and enviro-crime enforcement team.

Despite these additional commitments, performance had remained good in most areas. Food business compliance rates remained high. Taxi license renewals had been dealt with in a reasonable time in the main. The taxi fleet appeared to be generally in good order, although the number of vehicles failing either when submitted to a garage for an interim test or, to a lesser extent, whilst in-service remained higher than general rates pre-pandemic. This was almost certainly as a result of the financial pressure on members of the trade due to the current cost of living pressures.

As with previous years, complaints against the service were significantly exceeded by compliments. Complaints arose across a number of service areas this year, rather than being focused in one or two areas.

Non-business customer satisfaction was down on the last 2-year’s figures at 56.7% compared to 59.2% and 60.4%. Further detail on this had been provided in both the Annual Report and the Activity and Performance Data, Quarters 1 to 4, 2024/25.

The range of areas for complaint was greater this year, with licensing featuring quite strongly, particularly with animal related businesses where inspection visits revealed significant failings with requirements. Whilst numbers of nuisance complaints were lower last summer, other pressures in the Community Environmental Health team meant that resources were still spread very thin.

Managers would continue to work to address this performance measure. The nature of the service was such that officers would never be able to make everyone happy because a significant proportion of nuisance complaints would not amount to a statutory nuisance, but we could improve our performance in this area.

Business satisfaction returned to usual levels at 97.1% compared with 94.6% last  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7/25

The Technical Services Manager, Worcestershire Regulatory Services, summarised the Activity and Performance Data, Quarters 1 to 4, 2024/2025 report, and in doing so drew Members’ attention to the following:-

Activity Data

The number of cases received during the year was an increase of 18% compared to 2022/23 but an increase of 7% compared to 2023/24. Approximately 88% of cases were reports of lost or stray dogs with most cases categorised as "contained strays" (meaning dogs were found and held by members of the public). There had, however, been a notable increase in the number of dogs picked up with welfare concerns and subsequently requiring veterinary treatment or examination. Approximately 44% of dogs were successfully reunited with their owners although this figure varied significantly between local authorities. In general terms, the service received a low number of dog control complaints and enquiries each quarter. 

Based on the 92 complaints received during the year, 40 cases related to dogs which were persistently straying from residential properties, whilst 35 cases related to dog fouling.

Based on the 1,722 interventions undertaken during the year, as had been the case for some years now, only a small proportion of businesses were rated as "non-compliant" (issued a rating of 0, 1, or 2 FHRS score). A significant proportion of non-compliant ratings were issued to the hospitality sector (such as takeaways and pubs) or small retailers.

The number of health and safety at work cases received last year fell by 9% compared to 2022/23 but was 3% higher than last year. Just over 40% of cases were reports of accidents in workplaces, with most cases relating to injuries where a worker was incapacitated for more than seven days or injuries to members of the public. Sadly, the service had begun investigating some complex cases, which included, a fatality, and several others that were still in process.

The number of licensing cases received during the year was 3% higher than 2022/23 but 4% lower than last year. Around 65% of cases recorded were applications and registrations, with private hire or hackney carriage vehicles representing 31% of the demand and 24% from temporary events notices served on the six councils under the Licensing Act 2003.

The Licensing team received a significant number of enquiries each year, such as queries about regulations, by-laws, and licence condition. Actual complaints about conduct of license holders and businesses were fewer in number, with approximately 49% relating to taxi licensing (i.e., poor driver behaviour, unauthorised parking, or poor driving standards, etc,) and 22% related to alcohol licensing, and allegations of business failing to uphold the licensing objectives. A further 13% of complaints had related to animal licensing with most cases relating to the unlicensed breeding and/or sale of dogs.

The overall number of nuisance-type cases received during 2024/5 told a tale of poor weather, with the figures showing a 29% fall compared to 2022/23 and 20% compared to 2023/24. Licensing would probably see an increase in Temporary Event Notices (TENs) applied for, due to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8/25

Members were provided with a report that detailed the Food Safety: Development of Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) new food officer resource.

The Principal Environmental Health Officer (Food Safety Lead), WRS informed Board Members that the report was quite detailed and that she was happy to summarise the report and take any questions.

In summary –

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) was trying to achieve consistency across the Country.

All local food authorities, as defined in legislative provisions, must report their activities twice a year to the FSA. Reports covered inspections done, new premises registered, complaints handling and sampling activity plus details of the number of food officers available.

FSA Intervention

The resource reductions of recent years had led to most local authorities finding it difficult to operate in full compliance with the Food Law Code of Practice (FLCoP0), including WRS. As many Board Members would be aware, the Covid pandemic had led to the cessation of routine food safety work on order of the Agency, which when lifted left a significant backlog of work that many local authorities were struggling to catch up with.

Where the FSA had concerns regarding the performance of local authorities, it operated an escalation process through its own organisation.  WRS found itself part of this escalation process at the end of 2023.  And were asked by the FSA as to how WRS intended to get back on track with inspecting New Premises (some 800 per year) and D-E rated businesses, i.e. those managing their food safety risks to a very high standard or very low risk businesses such as cakemakers, small retail shops, wet bars. These three categories formed the bulk of the WRS database and estimated in the region of 75 to 80% of premises.

Recruiting Additional Officers

Data provided by the FSA indicated that WRS was towards the bottom of a list of local food authorities in terms of the number of full-time equivalent officers available for food safety work compared to the number of premises in the area. The Agency decided to commence its formal escalation process. Officers worked on what levels of capacity might be needed to build on the existing officer complement. In February 2024 the Board and Partners supported a request for additional funding to increase the establishment of the food competent officers within the Community Environmental Health team.

It was highlighted to the Board, that there was a national shortage of Environmental Health Officers, so WRS had opted to recruit three additional Regulatory Support Officers (RSO) and two Technical Officers (Food). Whilst it was difficult to recruit fully competent staff, three qualified candidates (an EHO, a graduate EHO and an individual with the National Certificate in Food Control) were found.

The two new Technical Officers had the relevant food safety qualifications as required in the FLCoP and after a competency review, were now able to inspect all categories of food premises. Their initial work focussed on reducing the backlog of interventions at D-rated premises.

Competency of Officers

The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9/25

The Licensing and Support Services Manager, Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS), provided Members with an update on the Automation Project, and in doing so, highlighted that there were very few queries or concerns.

Members were further informed on the form’s timeline, in that

Where forms were now live these were continuing to be used as a preference to paper forms or sending forms via email. Feedback had been positive, and the team continued to monitor progress closely. The shift to moving online had continued to rise with very few queries or challenges.

The next set of forms to be created and tested would be:-

1. Animal Licensing Applications

2. Pavement Licensing

3. Taxi Applications

As previously explained, while the animal licensing and pavement licensing forms were being created the team would look to form a plan of engagement with the taxi trade as we would like to do as much testing with the trade and operators in order to ensure that there were champions in each district.

The formulation of the guidance and FAQ’s on the website would be critical to ensuring a smooth transition therefore engaging with this group would also be critical.

Significant progress had been made on the ‘service request’ form with the task and finish group now being comfortable to move onto testing.

A new bank account at the Host Authority (Bromsgrove District Council) had been set up for WRS income so it would be easier to divide out to partners moving forward. Partners would have received monies from BDC at the end of Quarter 4, which would now allow partners to see real licensing income coming out of the system.

Taxi ID Cards

 The three teams involved in the project (MyTAG, IDOX and Wyre Forest IT) were working together to ensure that there was no risk to the service when data was exposed outside of the environment, when enabling remote access to the IDOX database. Wolverhampton City Council went live with this project in recent days, so the team had been asked to speak to officers at Wolverhampton City Council in order to alleviate some of their concerns.

Having received regular updates on the progress of the Automation Project, Members were in agreement that this item could be removed from the agenda for any future meetings of the Board.  Members would ask the Licensing and Support Manager to only update Board Members this project going forward, when necessary or at the end of the project.

RESOLVED that the Progress Report on the Automation Project be noted and removed from the agenda for any future Board meetings, as detailed in the preamble above.

There was no Urgent Business on this occasion.