Agenda item

The Technical Services Manager, Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS), presented the report which set out the Activity and Performance Data for Quarter 1 2025/26. and in doing so drew Members’ attention to the following activity areas of the report:

Activity Data

There were 329 programmed interventions undertaken during quarter 1, slightly below the 392 and 391 respectively in the previous two periods. 5% of the 329 interventions resulted in businesses being rated as "non-compliant" (issued a rating of 0, 1, or 2 FHRS score). As with previous quarters 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 remained on trend with 56 at quarter 1, compared to 63 last year and 49 two years ago for quarter 1. The service continued to deal with varied and sometimes complex cases in this area.

The number of complaints and enquiries about dog control was the lowest for many quarters at only 29. The figure was below all the quarterly figures reported in the last 3 years, with only the 33-figure in Q2 of 2023/4 being close.

However, the number of reported strays was high at Q1 2025/26 at 426, compared with 304 last year, and 402 the previous one. Around 94% of cases were reports of lost or stray dogs with most, as usual categorised as "contained strays", with dogs found and held by members of the public. Officers remained concerned at the notable increase in the number of dogs picked up with welfare concerns and subsequently requiring veterinary treatment or examination.

A Board Member expressed concern at the rise in the number of stray dogs and it was responded that addressing this remained one of the priorities for WRS and the communications officer was currently working on preparing a communications initiative to focus on this issue.

In Licensing, the number of complaints and enquiries followed the previous slightly downward trend, with 651 at Q1 2025/26 compared to 828 and 740 for the same period in the last two years for quarters 1, and well below the peak of 1026 in the final quarter of 2023/24. It was stated that this was positive and reflected the work done within the service on automation and communications.

Planning support work continued an upward trend, with Q1 figures again exceeding those at the same point in the previous two years, with 977 requests compared to 808 and 763 respectively. There had been a steady increase in the number of planning applications being submitted across Worcestershire and there had been a general increase in enquiries.

This year’s hot summer had led to more reports of nuisance, and it was expected the number of nuisance complaints for Q2 2025/26 to be significantly higher than the previous two summer periods.

Board Members were asked to promote the work undertaken by WRS across six partner authorities to all elected members as it was apparent from recent meetings attended by WRS officers that some district/borough councillors remained unaware of the remit and work being carried out by WRS.

A Board Member asked about the licensing of vapes and vape shops. The Director of WRS responded that the proposed Tobacco and Vapes Bill, when passed, would provide powers to introduce a licensing scheme for the retail sale of vapes and tobacco products, but it remained unclear which body would be responsible for the licensing regime or its enforcement. The existing regulatory regime that addresses illegal tobacco and vapes was the responsibility of Worcestershire County Council (WCC) and its Trading Standards service. There was no clarity at this stage as to whether district or county councils would be responsible for licensing.

Question was raised as to whether the increased number of Environmental Information Requests (EIRs) received was placing operational pressure on WRS. The Technical Services Manager, WRS, stated that a review of WRS approach to responding to EIRs was being undertaken, it being acknowledged that there was increased demand from the public for this kind of information. It was highlighted that the WRS tried to publish information relating to common types of queries on its website.

It was asked by a Board Member if a breakdown by district could be provided in relation to the taxi licensing complaints and enquiries being received by WRS. The Officers undertook to check if this information could be compiled in this format and would provide a response. It was also clarified that most of the contacts relating to taxi licensing were simple enquires, but that some were true ‘complaints’ and that these could relate to a range of issues from driver behaviour to the quality of vehicles and go outside of this regime to things like pubs making too much noise or trading outside of their licensed hours. If Officers identified that an enquiry contained the substance of a serious complaint, this could then be referred to the appropriate district council for consideration at a licensing sub-committee meeting, particularly if, for taxi drivers, the accusation went to the root of whether the driver met the “fit and proper person” test.

A Board Member referred to several districts within Worcestershire reporting large presence of ‘Uber’ vehicles which were not licensed within that district and queried what powers WRS had to address this. The Director of WRS responded that WRS had limited powers in this area as when Government introduced the Devolution Act in the mid-2010s, private hire vehicles were allowed to be licensed by one council but operate in another area, and local licensing authorities were not in a position to demand that ‘Uber’ registered taxi drivers or vehicles be licenced with a specific district area.

It was recognised that many taxis operating within Worcestershire were now licensed by City of Wolverhampton Council, and that this was true for many parts of the country, particularly urban areas. It was reported that officers had been engaging with colleagues at Wolverhampton to arrange joint enforcement and compliance visits at night, allowing taxis licensed in Wolverhampton to be in scope of the enforcement operations.

RESOLVED that the Activity and Performance Data Quarter 1 to 2025/26, be noted and that Members use the contents of the report in their own reporting back to their respective partner authority.