COMMITTEE : Policy
Commission for Safer Communities
DATE: 6 July
2006
SUBJECT: Corporate Enforcement – Saf4/05
REPORT OF: Environmental Health
Manager
Summary
The Safer Communities Commission has previously approved a scoping document for an enquiry entitled “Corporate Enforcement”. This report provides the Commission with an outline of the new approaches underway within the Environmental Health Department, one of the services within Consumer Protection, aimed at delivering improved protection for consumers and businesses, more efficient use of resources and a reduction in the regulatory burden on businesses. The report is directed at providing evidence and information to the Commission to help guide the enquiry.
Background
1. It is perhaps beneficial to the commission to firstly indicate the role Environmental Health has. In 1993 a meeting of the World Health Organisation (WHO) European member states proposed the following definition of Environmental Health:
‘Environmental health comprises of those aspects of human health,
including quality of life, that are determined by physical, biological, social
and psycho-social factors in the environment. It also refers to the assessing,
correcting and preventing those factors in the environment that can potentially
affect adversely the health of present and future generations.’
2. Environmental Health therefore affects every citizen; young or old, rich or poor, male or female, homeowner or tenant etc. The prevention of food poisoning; the maintenance of good air quality; the quality of private rented housing; the safety of workplaces are all responsibilities of Environmental Health Practitioners (EHP’s) employed in local government. EHP’s meet these responsibilities through direct enforcement but also through other linked activities such as training events, advisory visits, promotional campaigns etc.
3. Local authorities in the UK have primary responsibility for carrying out the statutory aspects of environmental health work. Traditionally these can be grouped into four main functional areas:
Food
safety (Food safety and hygiene including food standards)
Health
and safety at work
Environmental
protection (Air quality, Contaminated Land, Development Control liaison,
Nuisance (including smoke and noise))
Housing
(Not within Environmental Health on the Isle of Wight)
In addition, aspects of health promotion activity are undertaken by
environmental health to support work in the four functional areas.
4. Licensing is a further function undertaken by officers within the Isle of Wight Council Environmental Health Department.
5. When the unitary authority was established in 1995 the Environmental Health Department consisted of four distinct specialised teams covering three of the four, aforementioned, traditional functional areas of food safety, environmental protection, health and safety and the “non traditional area” licensing. Housing enforcement responsibilities were devolved to the then Social Services Directorate. The Department had few qualified Environmental Health Practitioners instead being predominantly staffed by technical officers conducting activities in one functional area only.
6. The organisation of the service along the functional areas allowed the concentration of resources and expertise so as to ensure statutory duties and central government targets were met. However, this combined with continuing budgetary pressures may have led to a departmental focus upon the achievement of outputs rather than outcomes and a reduction in the capacity of the department to respond to issues in a holistic fashion. This structure also in practice meant that the same business could potentially have been visited by four different officers from Environmental Health alone!
7. Following the Hampton review, “Reducing administrative burdens: effective inspection and enforcement” in December 2004, the emerging proposals of the Local Authority Better Regulation Office, the continuing recruitment crisis in Environmental Health and the facing ever increasing demands for service; a decision was taken in December 2004 to restructure the department. The restructure commenced in January 2005 and is still ongoing.
8. The aim of this restructure was to combine the distinct functional specialised teams of food safety, environmental protection, health and safety into two geographical teams with officers undertaking combined activities i.e. from specialist EHP’s to generalist EHP’s.
9. This approach has been developed to:
i.
Reduce the overall number of visits made to businesses as we look to
combine inspections where possible.
ii.
Be more economic, efficient and effective (in terms of outcomes).
iii.
Offer greater flexibility in service provision to better meet customer
demands / respond to impacts upon the service.
iv.
Reduce the recruitment/retention problems associated with specialist
officers.
v.
Through training, offer enhanced career prospects, job satisfaction and
future employability to staff.
10. In order to achieve these aims support and commitment from officers / management is essential. A significant barrier has been staff training requirements. Whereas EHP’s are qualified to carry out work in all areas of Environmental Health, technical officer training is normally restricted to a specific functional area. In order to carry out work in the other functional areas technical officers are required legally to obtain additional formal qualifications. This has necessitated a significant ongoing commitment to fund training and continuing professional development to the tune of an £8000 or 160% increase in the training budget for 2005/06. This will most likely be repeated in 2006/07. The increase in training budget has been possible through a variety of means including securing a DTI grant for £5000 and for example the savings made on salaries by appointing trainee officers to vacant posts.
11. The situation now, just over 12 months on from the commencement of our restructure, is that the geographical teams are well established and all officers are undertaking or due to undertake training in at least two of the three functional areas of environmental health work. The Environmental Health Service Plan for 2006/07 has ensured that where possible, joint inspections are made for food safety/standards and health and safety. This amounts to a reduction during 2006/07 in the enforcement burden on businesses of 313 inspections and an estimated saving of officer travelling time of 172 hours which equates to ~£4000 (assuming SO2 scale). There are also further efficiency savings and improvement in consumer / business protection through officers being able to deal with and respond to a wider range of issues whilst in contact with the business / consumer or their geographical area.
12. Continuing challenges to ensure consistency of enforcement and officer professional development are currently being overcome through the development of suitable processes and performance management practices e.g. bi monthly officer monitoring, customer evaluation etc.
13. Whilst the development of a generalist team is proving possible for the functions of environmental health, I have reservations that this could be expanded to include other non traditional Environmental Health enforcement areas. These reservations are not based upon a desire to preserve or protect traditional professional boundaries; but rather the extent of officer training and ongoing professional development that would currently be legally necessary to undertake this work. I believe that these requirements are currently too onerous to make this a practical proposition.
14. However, there is considerable scope for a review of the Council’s approach to “lower level” enforcement activity such as the issue of fixed penalty notices for the cleaner and greener agenda. Work is currently underway involving a team of officers from Development Control, Engineering Services, Operational Safer Communities and Environmental Health to ensure a more “joined up” approach to enforcement.
15. As for the future, I firmly believe that the DTI Retail Enforcement Pilot project
http://www.dti.gov.uk/consumers/enforcement/retail-enforcement/index.html
is a way forward towards securing many of the objectives that the Safer Communities Commission is seeking through this enquiry.
16. The Retail Enforcement Pilot was launched in June 2005 and is aimed at reducing the burden of inspection for retail businesses whilst enhancing consumer and worker protection. The Pilot is working closely with a wide range of expertise from across central and local government and includes representatives from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Cabinet Office, the Food Standards Agency, the Health and Safety Executive, Trading Standards, Environmental Health and business.
17. The Pilot is trialling a range of new processes that co-ordinate and streamline routine planned inspections across Trading Standards, Environmental Health, Health and Safety, Food Standards, Fire Safety and potentially Licensing.
18. Although the pilot aims to reduce the number of routine planned inspections, which will provide direct benefit to business. Consumer and worker protection will also be enhanced, because local authority staff will share information on businesses so they can direct their efforts where they will have most impact. Any savings in routine visiting will be redirected into educating business, running intelligence led campaigns which target poor business performers and those who trade illegally.
19. Environmental Health, the Trading Standards Service, the Fire and Rescue Service have made an expression of interest to participate in the Retail Enforcement Pilot.
Recommendations
20. That the Commission note the improved protection for consumers and businesses, the reduction in the regulatory burden on businesses and the improved efficiency expected in 2006/07 arising from the restructure of Environmental Health.
21. That the Commission note the more “joined up” approach being taken corporately with respect to the cleaner and greener agenda.
22. That the Commission note the aims of the DTI Retail Enforcement Pilot which recognises and retains the tradition professional boundaries whilst aiming to deliver the same outcomes of this Commission.
Contact Details:
Warren Haynes
Environmental Health Manager
Tel 01983
823151
Email: [email protected]