Agenda item - Activity and Performance Data Quarters 1,2,3 and 4

Agenda item

Activity and Performance Data Quarters 1,2,3 and 4

Minutes:

The Board were asked to consider a report that covered both district and county functionality and the wide range of each local authorities corporate priorities to which regulatory services contributed.  The report detailed Worcestershire Regulatory Services Activity Data for Quarters 1, 2, 3 and 4, 2015/2016.

 

The Technical Services Manager, Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS)  introduced the report and in doing so informed Members that, with regard to district functions, as usual, licensing and environmental nuisance continued to make the most impact in terms of demand which was understandable given their direct impact on the public. 

 

The Team Manager had provided a good outline of work carried out by the Community Environmental Health teams.  Quarter 4 saw an increase in nuisance related issues compared with quarter 3, but still in line with the same quarter for the previous year.  January to March 2016 saw an increase in the common issues of domestic accumulation, noise and similar nuisance cases compared with October to December 2015.

 

Service requests for both food safety and Health and Safety at Work were up compared with the previous quarter, but on a par with previous periods. Over 350 food hygiene inspections were carried out in quarter 4 and the food hygiene inspection programme was completed as anticipated. 

 

During quarter 4, WRS received the Better Business for All Innovation Award from the Better Regulation Delivery Office for its work in supporting Asian catering businesses in the County, with compliance across a range of areas which included food hygiene, food standards and health and safety. 

 

Planning consultations continued to make large demands in terms of numbers and complexity on the team.  The number of applications referred or requiring a response were higher than the previous quarter but similar to the same quarter last year, however, the requests to discharge conditions based on our input was significantly up on quarter 4 last year and higher than the previous quarter.  Requests to discharge tended to be more time consuming and technical.

 

The number of stray or lost dogs reported fell slightly. This was an ongoing trend, which could be attributed to the two main factors as detailed in the report.  

 

In response to questions from Members with regard to the reporting stray or lost dogs, the Technical Services Manager, WRS, informed the Board that WRS issued press releases in order to encourage residents to report stray or lost dogs direct to the dog wardens or WRS and not through social media. 

 

The licensing statistics chart, as detailed on page 85 in the report, showed that applications and service requests remained a consistent demand across all four quarters during 2015/2016.

 

Activity continued to be focussed on rogue traders who targeted vulnerable people, consumer products that were dangerous and could cause people harm and traders with a large number of complaints against them. 

 

Full details of the year end performance were also included in the Worcestershire Regulatory Services Annual Report 2015/2016.

 

The Chairman expressed her thanks to officers.

 

RESOLVED that the Activity Data Report for Quarters 1, 2, 3 and 4, 2015/2016, be noted.

Supporting documents: