Issue - meetings

E Walker introduced the item to members and ran through the key points:

• A-C food inspections have dropped off significantly in this quarter. This is due to staff sickness but all staff have now returned to work so this is expected to pick up in the next quarter.
• A corporate health and safety training session was delivered to members with positive feedback. Members requested accident data to be included in the quarterly update. There have been 33 accidents across the whole Council in Q2 (including vehicle accidents). Three of these accidents were RIDDOR reportable to the Health and Safety Executive. Two were over 7 day injuries, arising from a slip, trip or fall. The other was a member of the public taken straight to hospital arising from a slip, trip or fall.
• There has been a significant increase in food poisoning cases but this has not been linked to a common cause and the department have been working closely with Public Health England.
• There were two warrants to enter premises in Northend due to noise complaints. Equipment was seized and the Environmental Health Officer was called to court to give evidence and a closure order was granted,
• The Stray Dog Service has maintained its Gold RSPCA award. Communications spent the day with the dog warden and promoted “The Day in the Life of the Dog Warden” on social media.

Councillor Anderson thanked E Walker for including the accident data in the report as requested.

Councillor Birnie asked what progress was being made on the noise complaints on Bovingdon Airfield.

E Walker said she believed it was still with the planning department who are working to reach a resolution.

Councillor Riddick said that staff turnover in the department seems to high.

E Walker said there was a national shortage of qualified staff and only two universities in the country offer the course needed.

Councillor Riddick referred to paragraph 3.1 and the number of accidents. He asked if the member of the public would be likely to claim against the council.

E Walker said the incident involved a child jumping of a swing and breaking their wrist. It was unlikely to come back against the council.

Councillor Riddick asked how staff were able to train at the University of Birmingham – do they get day release or is it distance taught?

E Walker said it was a mixture of both. University of Birmingham provides the masters course and University of Middlesex provide an undergraduate degree.

Councillor Riddick referred to the ASB noise order and asked what happened to the tenants.

E Walker said she was unsure but would come back to Councillor Riddick on that point.

Councillor Timmis congratulated the dog warden on the Gold Award.

Councillor Anderson thanked the department for all their hard work despite the staff vacancies and issues faced.

Outcome

That the Strategic Planning and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee approve the report.