Agenda item

The Board considered a report which detailed the Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) Annual Report 2022/2023. 

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

The Head of Regulatory Services highlighted that the report covered the performance of the service from 1^st April 2022 to 31^st March 2023, both in terms of KPIs and highlights of activity, with a short summary activity report, as detailed at Appendix 5 to the report.

2022/23 saw the winding down of the formal response to the global Covid- 19 pandemic, which required some resources to be committed but to a limited extent, and many of the dedicated staff who served during the pandemic moved on. Where possible, the service did make staff aware of other job opportunities with the partners as, given the difficulties recruiting staff, it was important to try to keep good people in the local authority family if they were willing and there were suitable opportunities.

The service took on several new work-streams during the year, utilising some of the staff recruited during the pandemic. The planning enforcement pilot for Redditch and Bromsgrove, and the Homes 4 Ukraine support for Redditch, Bromsgrove, Malvern Hills and Wychavon, had been delivered in this way, with support from experienced WRS managers.

Despite the additional commitments, performance 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 appears to be generally in good order, although the number of vehicles that failed either when submitted to a garage for interim test or, to a lesser extent, whilst in-service had increased again, with one partner area standing out. This was almost certainly 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. The main issues for complainants related to people:

·       Unhappy with response to their complaint about nuisance,

·       Having issues with one the pest controllers

·       Having to pay to recover a stray dog.

Nuisance complaints were numerous last summer and this, combined with the drive to complete the Food Recovery programme as required by the Food Standards Agency, meant that resources last summer were spread very thin. This led to a fall in non-business customer satisfaction to only 59.2%. Managers would continue to work to address this, however, the nature of the service was such that it would be impossible to make everyone happy because a significant proportion of nuisance complaints would not amount to a statutory nuisance, Members were assured that WRS were confident they could improve their performance in this area. 

The indicators for licensed premises and noise complaints had been in place long enough now to establish good baselines. Previously, WRS had said that the former of these indicators, linked to the Crime & Disorder agenda, demonstrated that, post pandemic lockdowns where hospitality premises were closed for long periods, the general tolerance of noise and similar activities from this type of premise had reduced. This appears to be slightly less prevalent for the last year, with more urban districts returning figures around average and more rural districts returning figures at average or slightly higher. It still shows that 90% plus of premises across the County were still well run and controlled by their operators, and concerns tend to be limited to smaller numbers of premises.

The figures could now be used, along with intelligence, to focus enforcement resources proactively, to tackle any individual problem premises, although these were relatively few and most complaints relate to nuisance issues or anti-social behaviour, which was a police matter.

Looking at last year’s figures for noise complaints against population, the rate for Malvern Hills was low compared to previous years and numbers for other areas appear around average to slightly below average. Domestic noise represents more than half of complaints and noise from dogs and from audio devices remain key drivers of this, with dogs in particular making up over 500 of the 1500 received noise complaints. in regard to commercial premises, it tends to be a small number that certain residents had concerns about, and things such as a change of Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) or the business looking at more diverse ways of bringing in revenue could lead to friction with the local community. Overall, it still suggests however, that the environment for Worcestershire residents was good.

Members were further informed that the Annual Report provided a summary of the financial position, the key achievements and covered issues relating to human resources. There were also sections on risk management and equalities. The Report would be published on the WRS website and would be shared with other all partner authorities.

Members recognised the work WRS had done during a very challenging time and wished to extend their appreciation to the team in particular for their work during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Community Environmental Health and Trading Standards Manager responded to questions with regard to noise complaints. WRS Officers had a varied skillset so during particularly busy periods they moved Officers to higher demand departments such as handling noise complaints during the summer months when it peaks, however, Officers further highlighted to Members that demand far exceeded the support that could be utilised so it was unlikely they could ever fully meet all the demand.

The Community Environmental Health and Trading Standards Manager further clarified to Members that the threshold for a noise nuisance was very high and was due to a number of factors such as proximity, volume, time of day and duration and was a skilled decision that was made by Officers. Officers would often install equipment to monitor noise to make their assessment, it was also noted that if the threshold was deemed to have been met then the offence would be criminal in nature and would constitute legal proceedings which was why the threshold had to be high.

RESOLVED that the Worcestershire Regulatory Services Annual Report 2020/2021, be noted; and that a copy of the Worcestershire Regulatory Services Annual Report 2022/2023 be forwarded to the Chief Executive, Managing Director and Members of the six partner authorities.