Agenda item - Activity and Performance Data Quarter 3

Agenda item

Activity and Performance Data Quarter 3

Minutes:

The Board considered a report that detailed Worcestershire Regulatory Services Activity and Performance Data for Quarters 1, 2 and 3, 2016/2017.

 

The Environmental Health & Trading Standards Manager, Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) introduced the report and in doing so informed Members that the number of service requests in respect of food safety and hygiene for the third quarter had showed a spike which exceeded the peak of 2014/2015.  As a result the continuation of relatively high levels of nuisance work into October and November, the high number of complex legal cases under investigation (which included two food premises closures) and food inspections were down on the same quarter last year.  In order to make up the volume of inspection work in the second half of the year, WRS would need to bring in additional capacity in the form of agency staff in order to achieve this.  This would be affordable due to the on-going income generation activity and would not require additional funding from partner authorities.

 

Primary Authority agreements continued to grow and more businesses had signed up to the Healthy Eating award, as detailed on page 81 in the report.

 

As previously highlighted due to the good autumn weather nuisance complaints remained higher than usual levels throughout October and November.    

 

Planning consultations fell off during quarter 3 following the spike over the summer. This provided the Technical Services team with some capacity to tackle other aspects of work such as Air Quality Strategy documents.  The team continued to service high levels of demand from clients outside Worcestershire and for the second year commenced their annual inspection programme for Gloucester City Council on Permitted Processes.

 

The falling trend in dog control issues across Worcestershire had been achieved by taking action to re-home persistent stray dogs and working with owners to achieve better control; alongside communities and individuals setting up their own ways of identifying strays and getting them back to their owners. This had enabled WRS to offer dog warden services more widely and to continue to bid for work outside of the county.

 

Although there was a small spike in licensing applications in November, overall numbers remained in line with previous years. 

 

Customer satisfaction was recorded at 80%, which was slightly below last year’s outrun and slightly above the quarter 3 figure in 2015/2016.  Business satisfaction was slightly down on the outrun at 96.7% but remained good.  The proportion of people who felt better equipped to deal with problems for themselves in future was in line with previous performance at 75.6%.

 

Staff sickness was higher than in previous years, at 4.74 days per full time equivalent (FTE) for the first two quarters.  A large contributory factor was due to a number of severe viral infections that had hit everyone during November and December. One staff member remained on long term sick.

 

The number of complaints against the service remained low but did increase in quarter three, taking the total to 17.  However they were significantly exceeded by the number of compliments received. 

 

The Environmental Health & Trading Standards Manager, Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) informed the Board that income generation had become a key part of what WRS delivered.  He would therefore draw Members’ attention to pages 107 to 110 in the report, which detailed the work delivered for client authorities outside of the partnership.

 

In response to Councillor Y. Smith, Redditch Borough Council, the Environmental Health & Trading Standards Manager, WRS agreed to provide her with more detailed information on the mouse infestation discovered at a Redditch store, as highlighted on page 74 in the report.

 

In response to questions from Members, the Head of Regulatory Services (WRS) noted the comments made by Board Members with regard to an indicator of annual targets being included in future reports.  He explained to Members that when WRS initially went through the reporting system there was a drive away from targets.  However, he would review the current report format and look at areas where it might be relevant to include annual targets in future reports to the Board.

 

The Head of Regulatory Services, WRS further responded and informed Members that WRS were intelligence led.  As detailed in the report, food inspections were down compared with the same quarter last year, but he wanted to reassure Members that food inspections would remain a priority.

 

RESOLVED that the Activity and Performance Data report for Quarters 1, 2 and 3, 2016/2017 be noted.

Supporting documents: