Agenda item

The Technical Services Manager, Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS), presented the report which set out the Activity and Performance Data for Quarter 2 2025/26 and in doing so drew Members’ attention to the following activity areas of the report:

Activity Data

There were 694 interventions undertaken during quarter the year to date (Q1 and Q2), of which only around 5% had resulted in businesses being rated as "non-compliant" (issued a rating of 0, 1, or 2 FHRS score). A significant proportion of non-compliant ratings continued to be issued within the hospitality sector (such as takeaways and restaurants) or small retailers.

In Licensing, the number of licensing cases received during the year to date showed a reduction of 11% compared to the same time period in 2024/25 and a 6% reduction compared to 2023/24. However, a large number complaints were being received with 807 complaints and enquiries received to date in 2025/26. Of these, some 505 were complaints relating to license holders, with approximately 40% of the complaints relating to taxi licensing.

Planning enquiries continued to fall during Q2, but they remained 5% above the figure for the same period in 2024/25 and 26% above the figure for 2023/24 for this period of the year.

The number of reported strays in Q2 2025/26 was the highest in the current 3-year reporting period, slightly surpassing last year’s Q3 figure. The upward trend continued in this area. A Board Member expressed concern at this trend in dog stray cases and queried about communications in this area. The Marketing and Communications Manager, WRS, responded that in anticipation of the festive season WRS would be coordinating a press release and an awareness campaign across partner authorities on things to consider before buying a dog, and importance of choosing only licensed breeders.

The number of pollution cases received this year to date remained similar to 2023/24 level but 21% higher than 2024/25. Around 92% of pollution cases this year had been reports of potential nuisances with 45% of cases relating to noise from residential properties. Other prominent nuisances reports included noise from night-time economy businesses, noise from other hospitality businesses, smoke from the burning of domestic or commercial waste, and noise or dust from construction sites.

Performance

It was reported that the non-business customer satisfaction measure improved from 53.8% in quarter 1 to 61.7% at the end of this quarter 2. Number of people satisfied with the speed of initial response was at 62%. The biggest issue remained the inability in some cases to deliver the outcome people would like to see which was most often due to public expectations not being met by what the law on nuisance allowed for.

Business satisfaction had increased this quarter (Q2) from 91.8% to 95.1% but remained below expectations. The trend in this area was being monitored to help identify reasons for this.

Performance on processing complete driver license renewals within 5 working days was lower for the first 6 months of 2025/26 at 88.4%, compared to the figures for the same timeframe over the previous two years, at 97.6% and 93.9% respectively. It was noted that the steady introduction of the online form submission process, Victoria Forms, should lead to improvement in this and other areas of the service. A Member commented that the new system operated seamlessly in his experience and thanked the service for introducing this.

WRS income during the first half of 2025/26 was £347,337, which was higher than the figures for the previous three years (at £258,989, £204,718, £232,520 respectively). A question was asked as to the reasons behind the increased income being generated by WRS. It was responded that this was primarily due to the dog control service offer, with WRS now offering this service in various areas of the country, including Birmingham and North Somerset.

A question was raised regarding the publicity of air quality data. It was explained that real time air quality data for Worcestershire was available to view on the WRS website with a link to the WRS webpage being available on each of the district councils’ websites.

A Board Member raised a question regarding the Government’s recent call for evidence on the licensing system. The Director of WRS explained that he responded to the Licensing Reforms Programme call for evidence on behalf of the WRS. The proposals offered included moving back to only allowing people in the vicinity of a premises to submit comments in relation to applications, and to allow further reduction of burdens on businesses in the area of licensing. One of the issues that concerned the Director was the proposal to give more flexibility for Temporary Event Notices, which already offer businesses up to three days of activity at a very low cost. The Director mentioned the example of small-scale festivals, which are frequently seen in Worcestershire and generate concerns and complaints from residents, particularly in more rural areas. It was felt that this call for evidence was more focused on issues in London and urban areas rather than those experienced across the country.

It was clarified that this was a call for evidence which sought views and evidence from stakeholders on the potential changes to the licensing system, but this was not a full formal consultation which would need to take place with any proposals for a change in legislation. There was a time period of one month for responses to the call for evidence, making it difficult to involve large numbers of people. The Licensing Manager confirmed that information on this call for evidence was sent to all chairpersons of licensing committees across the six partner authorities.

RESOLVED that the Activity and Performance Data Quarter 2 of 2025/26 be noted and that Members use the contents of the report in their own reporting back to their respective partner authority.