Environmental Health - Policies & Performance

The Environmental Health Department is part of the Planning and Environmental Services Directorate. Our primary role is to enforce public health and environmental legislation.

Foreword by Cabinet Member for Health and Environment, Councillor Andy Smith

The Environmental Health Service Plan covers the work that the Environmental Health Department carries out to protect all those who live, work or take their recreation in the Lewes District. The Council wants to be recognised as an effective, caring, low cost Council. We cannot do this in isolation and to realise this vision, we will work closely with other agencies and the community to promote safer and healthier environments for us all to share.

The Environmental Health Department touches on almost every aspect of our lives either directly, when there is a problem, or indirectly in our work to promote and protect standards of welfare, environmental management, and regulatory control through a range of education and regulatory contacts.

The period 2011-2014 seems certain to see profound changes in both the local and national delivery of public health services. The Coalition Government are requiring rapid change to the NHS and its public health partners. The Council has a vital role in delivering health and wellbeing, and we will need to work closely with our new partners to ensure that structural changes do not disadvantage the health of the population.

There is an increasing realisation of the inequalities in the health of our communities. The new public health arrangements will offer great opportunities for reducing these health inequalities within the Lewes district. To tackle these inequalities will require some difficult decisions against a backdrop of reducing resources, but Environmental Health must remain focussed on targeting efficient services on deprived and disadvantaged sections of our community.

I welcome this plan, confident in the effectiveness of the Environmental Health Department’s contribution to the work of the Council.

Services

The Environmental Health Department provides a range of key services including:

General Public Health Services
These are mainly statutory activities regulating food safety; health and safety in the workplace; nuisances; infectious diseases; pollution control (including contaminated land and integrated pollution control); protecting public health and environmental standards.

Port Health
Inspection/surveillance of food imported through Newhaven, water safety and control of infectious diseases at the Port.

Private Sector Housing
Statutory activities dealing with housing conditions in the private sector, including Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) and enabling work through the administration of grant based schemes.

Pest Control
The statutory control of rats, and non statutory control of mice, wasps and other pests.

Licensing
Operating various statutory licensing regimes, including alcohol, animal welfare, caravan sites, gambling and regulating taxis and minicabs etc.

Animal Welfare:
Dealing with stray dogs, dangerous dogs and dog fouling issues, together with animal welfare advice, enforcement and associated licensing.

Emergency planning
Providing the Councils 24 hour response service for Environmental Health emergencies and coordinating the Council’s corporate support for emergency planning and business continuity planning.

Health Policy and Public Health Partnerships
Working with statutory partners to provide joined up services designed to improve the public health, maintaining an overview of health policy, changes in healthcare and advising upon its impact for the Lewes District.

Aims & Objectives

Our aim is to provide an efficient Environmental Health service which improves the health and wellbeing of all those who live in, work in or visit the Lewes district.

Service Objectives	Outcomes (desired/expected)
To work within the new Public Health system to protect and improve Public Health	The Council can demonstrate the provision of an efficient, effective Public Health enforcement service.
To increase compliance with Environmental Standards and reduce Environmental Crime	The Council can demonstrate the provision of an efficient, effective Environmental enforcement service.
To target local Public Health Priorities and reduce Health Inequalities	The Council can demonstrate that it is identifying and targeting its interventions based on local need
To support the local economy	The Council can demonstrate that enforcement interventions are delivered according to a risk based approach. The Council can demonstrate the provision of a high quality business advice service on Environmental Health issues

Service Standards

In delivering the above service objectives, we have published the service standards the public can expect from us as set out below:

Commercial Activities

Inspect all registered food premises in accordance with national food safety standards.
Respond to complaints concerning food within 3 working days.
Respond to complaints about health and safety at work within 3 working days.
Investigate all reports of accidents at work within 3 working days or in the case of serious accidents, within 1 working day.

Public Health and Private Sector Housing

Respond to noise complaints within 3 working days
Respond to complaints of blocked drains and sewers within 1 working day and take appropriate action.
Respond to complaints of nuisance, filthy and vermin-infested premises and rubbish accumulation within 3 working days
Respond to all requests for Disabled Facilities Grants within 3 working days. All fully completed applications, accompanied by a Social Services occupational
therapist’s recommendation will be determined within 3 months of receipt.
Respond to complaints of disrepair or unfit accommodation in private rented properties within 3 working days.

Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development

Promote environmentally friendly policies and procedures across the Council and in local communities.
Respond to requests for pest control within 3 working days.
Respond to complaints of stray dogs within 6 hours (during our normal office hours).

Equalities

Under the General Public Sector Equality Duty (2010) we must :-

eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation;
advance equality of opportunity between different groups in the community; and
foster good relations within the local community

We carry out equality impact assessments (EIAs) for new or existing policies, strategies and services to see what effect they will have on different groups within our communities. This helps us to identify potential consequences for these groups and ensure any negative impacts are eliminated or reduced. They can also help us to identify actions to eliminate discrimination and promote positive relations between groups which are incorporated into our Departmental Service Plan.

Further information is available on our Equalities Policy and for copies of our Equality Impact Assessments.

Developing and Improving our Services

The main drivers for change likely to impact during 2011/12 are set out below:

National drivers for change

NHS reform, in particular the relocation of Public Health services to East Sussex County Council
The findings of the Marmot review on tackling health inequalities
The impact of the national economic situation on local health opportunities
Lord Young’s review of Health and Safety regulation
Pressure on budgets and resources and impact this has on the services provided

Local drivers for change

The impact of organisational changes
The impact of the large infrastructure projects along the coastal strip
Changes in joint working/shared services agenda in collaboration with other Councils in East Sussex
The District Council elections in May 2011, and the potential for new service priorities

Performance, Progress and Forward Plans

We have reviewed our progress and performance for last year. A summary is provided here:-

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PDF Environmental Health - Service Plan 2010/11 - Progress & Performance Report (0.88mb)

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PDF Environmental Health - Service Delivery & Improvement Plan 2011-12 (0.10mb)

Department Policies & Strategies

We publish the details of how we organise and decide the various aspects of our work. The policies list the rules we work to and the strategies show what we are planning to achieve and how.

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PDF Commercial Team Service Plan (0.31mb)