Environmental health consumer protection document

Strategic Regulation Supporting Economic Growth Health and Wellbeing in County Durham

Environment, Health and Consumer Protection

Councillor Brian Stephens Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods and Local Partnerships

Forward The Council’s Environment, Health and Consumer Protection Team provides essential services to County Durham’s residents, traders and visitors to protect their health, safety and environment including the air they breathe, the food they eat, goods they buy, their safety in the workplace and in their homes.

They also offer advice and support for local businesses that are key to the local economy and promote a safe, fair and equitable environment by dealing effectively with crime and disorder and rogues who often take advantage of our most vulnerable people.

The way we deliver our public services is evolving following the impact of the recession and the Government’s public spending review. Now is the time to transform the way we work to maintain business continuity and provide sustainable public services for the longer term.

In shaping these services for the future, it is vital that we focus on those issues that are important locally and continue to build on existing good practice as well as identify new areas of excellence and innovation so that we can deliver better regulatory outcomes to meet the needs and priorities of our local people and communities.

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The Council’s Environment, Health and Consumer Protection service was formed in 2009 following local government reorganisation and delivers the Council’s main regulatory functions including environmental health, trading standards and licensing.

Services are provided by 125 staff from a variety of different professional backgrounds who work together in specialist multi disciplined teams delivering services across the whole of County Durham.

Joanne Waller Head of Environment, Health & Consumer Protection

Executive Summary Public services have been under significant pressure over recent years in response to the Government’s plan to reduce the national deficit and reduce overall public spending. This has led to year on year funding reductions against a backdrop of emerging local needs and priorities and increasing public expectation.

The Environment, Health and Consumer Protection Service although a relatively small service area in comparison to other council functions has not been protected and the impact of budget cuts have led to a notable reduction in staff numbers and a loss of expertise.

Based at Annand House, Meadowfield the Environment, Health and Consumer Protection Service is co-located with Durham Constabulary’s Harm Reduction Team.

Customer reception facilities are available for licensing customers and the service has it’s own metrology laboratory on site for calibration and weights and measures testing.

In response, the Council has worked hard to minimise the impact of these substantial cuts through the introduction of new ways of working which are more cost effective and efficient. With further budget cuts expected in the years ahead, it is unrealistic to expect that the service offer will remain unchanged and that the Council will be able to deliver existing services at the same level.

This document sets out the core purpose and key priorities for the Environment, Health and Consumer Protection Service and highlights how it can contribute to the Council’s local strategic objectives and well as fit in to the changing regional and national regulatory landscape.

It is essential that we think ahead and start to reshape local authority regulatory services and introduce smarter ways of working which will provide the Council with more sustainable resources to meet the needs of existing and future generations.

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Environment protection

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Key Service Priorities Protect the environment for future generations, make our economy more environmentally sustainable, and improve our quality of life and wellbeing by: • Ensuring clean and safe neighbourhoods • Reducing antisocial behaviour, crime and disorder • Tackling waste and environmental crime • Protecting public health through pest control • Improving local housing conditions • Improving local air quality • Preventing ill health and harm and reducing health inequalities

Services Available Pollution Control • LAIPPC / LAPPC Environmental Permitting • Air Quality Management • Contaminated Land • Nuisance Action Team (NAT) • Planning Consultations • Land Searches Public Health • Public Health Nuisance • Sanitation and drainage • Pest control enforcement • Defective premises • Protection of Buildings • Community Action Team (CAT) Private Sector Housing • Private Sector Housing Standards • Housing Health & Safety Rating • Houses in Multiple Occupation • Assured Housing Scheme

CAT - Community Action Team Our Community Action Team (CAT) has been highly commended for the successful delivery of area based actions which address local priorities identified by residents, community groups and partner organisations.

The CAT co-ordinate their activities alongside Housing, Planning and Neighbourhood Protection services and work closely other key partners including Durham Constabulary and Durham & Darlington Fire and Rescue Services to deal proactively with local housing and environmental issues. The CAT undertake a range of interventions and use their enforcement powers to ensure that owners, occupiers / tenants and landlords to take responsibility for their properties and the local environment.

As well as taking enforcement action, the CAT also plays a key role in promoting health and healthier lifestyles.

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The success of the CAT is dependent on community involvement and welcomes additional support from elected members, Town and Parish Councils and other interested groups who may wish to contribute to the delivery of the programme of work.

The CAT initiative is normally delivered over an eight to ten week rolling programme in a defined area of the County before moving onto a new CAT project area.

Helping communities help themselves The CAT are working in partnership with Groundwork, who at the end of each CAT programme will assist local residents in developing their own action plans and community activities to achieve longer term benefits for everyone.

We have a duty to inspect our area from time to time to detect statutory nuisances and to investigate any complaints concerning noise, smells, smoke, artificial light, accumulations and insects from people living within the area. Where a statutory nuisance exists then the Council must take action to abate that nuisance and this may involve prosecution of offenders and / or seizure and confiscation of equipment.

Over the last year we have dealt with 2596 complaints concerning statutory nuisance of which 1369 requests for service related to neighbourhood noise.

Owing to the demands on the service we have established a dedicated Nuisance Action Team (NAT) who will undertake noise monitoring and analysis to determine whether a statutory nuisance exists. Our service teams are also consulted on proposals for planning and building developments within the area to identify any potential adverse impact on local neighbourhoods.

We manage air quality throughout the County and regularly monitor for air pollutants in areas of highest risk.

In 2014 the Council declared an Air Quality Management Area for parts of Durham City Centre and has produced an Action Plan to reduce the levels of Nitrogen Dioxide from vehicle emissions.

We regulate certain types of industrial processes as well as other activities such as petrol stations and dry cleaners to ensure that measures are in place to reduce any pollution they may cause and in particular, help improve air quality.

Businesses which operate these type of premises must have a permit issued by the council.

We currently have 218 permitted installations operating within County Durham.

There are over 10,000 land sites within County Durham which have the potential to be contaminated as a result of previous industrial use. Land that is declared as contaminated land will contain substances in, on or under it, which are in

concentrations which present a significant possibility of causing harms to human health or the environment. Whilst most contaminated sites are identified through the planning and development process we actively seek to identify any sites of potential concern and

We provide a number of housing related services that aim to control, minimise and prevent poor housing conditions that impact on the health of residents.

During 2015/16 we received 620 requests for Housing Health and Safety Risk Rating assessments and have taken appropriate action to require repairs and improvements where there is a risk to the health & safety of owner occupiers and private sector tenants.

We also inspect and regulate standards in around 2000 Houses In Multiple Occupation (HMOs). These properties are mainly located around Durham City Centre and provide accommodation for students.

448 HMOS are subject to a mandatory licensing and in 2015, we launched the Durham Student Assured Housing Scheme which is a voluntary accreditation scheme for all types of HMOs providing student accommodation within Durham. carry out further assessments to determine whether the site is contaminated or not. Where the land is declared contaminated, then we will require landowners to undertake remedial work to ensure that any contamination identified is remedied.

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Health protection

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Key Service Priorities Ensure a safe, healthy and sustainable food chain for the benefits of consumers and the rural economy by: • Preventing food poisoning and borne disease through better food hygiene and safety • Protecting consumers from food safety risks.

• Removing potentially unsafe items from the food chain • Improving food standards • Protecting against public health risks and damage to the farming industry through securing compliance with animal health and welfare legislation • Supporting businesses to achieve compliance.

Help people to live healthier lives and promote public health by: • Protecting employees from injury and ill health at work • Ensuring the health and safety of all persons visiting, living and working in County Durham

Services Available Food safety • Food Hygiene Regulation • Food Standards Regulation • Food/Environmental sampling • Food Alerts/Hazards • Food Hygiene Rating Scheme • Imported Food Control • Port Health • Feed Hygiene (non-farm) Community and animal health • Infectious Disease Control • Animal Disease Control • Licensing of prescribed animal welfare establishments.

• Monitoring of Private Water Supplies • Feed Hygiene at farms • Animal By-products Safety and occupational health • Workplace Inspection • Accident and Complaints • Business Support & training • Smoke Free Workplaces 6

Controlling infectious diseases One of our key health protection functions is the control of infectious diseases where there is a risk to human health.

Over the last year we have received 924 notifications of suspected cases of infectious disease including food poisoning such as Salmonella, and food borne illness such as Campylobacter and E Coli.

Our team work closely with the

Food Standards Agency and Public Health England and take a range of interventions to control outbreaks and help protect people from harm.

Our Food Safety Team undertake food and water sampling to assess any potential bacterial or chemical contamination as well as check compliance for Food Safety Standards. Last year 680 samples were taken for further analysis.

Food safety

Private water supplies Within County Durham there are over 1,000 premises which are supplied by wells, boreholes or springs.

These supplies are at risk of contamination from microorganisms. We therefore undertake a programme of sampling and risk-assessment to ensure that the supplies remain safe to drink.

We have health and safety enforcement responsibility for over 7700 workplaces within County Durham including offices, retail shops, hotels, catering establishments and warehouses etc.

As well as carrying out 226 inspections of the highest risk

Animal health and welfare

We have 4,447 registered food premises which are subject to Food Hygiene and Food Standards regulations.

We monitor and enforce animal health and welfare on 2,344 farms, markets and licensed premises.

Over the last year our officers have carried out 1,832 food hygiene inspections and 907 food standards inspections maintaining our 100% inspection rate for high risk food premises.

Our Community and Animal Health Officers carried out 723 visits last year to advise businesses of their responsibilities and to ensure that current legislation is being met.

We upload all of our inspection data to the National Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, which enables consumers to easily identify the food hygiene standards in all registered food businesses within County Durham, which in turn helps them to make informed choices about where to eat or purchase their food. premises in the last year, we have also made 858 other health and safety visits and received over 300 health and safety complaints and accident notifications.

We work closely with the Health & Safety Executive on national awareness campaigns

We also offer advice and assistance to farmers and the livestock industry on the keeping and movement of animals, the transit of livestock, disposal of animal remains, preventing mistreatment and applying for animal passports.

and have delivered targeted enforcement interventions which have focused on smoke free public places, gas safety in food premises and the highly successful ‘Catch a Scratcher’ initiative which has resulted in the seizure of tattooing equipment and prosecution of unlicensed tattooists.

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Consumer protection

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Key Service Priorities Support economic growth and promoting local prosperity by: • Ensuring a fair, responsible and competitive trading environment • Supporting businesses to achieve compliance • Protecting consumers and compliant businesses from fraudulent and illegal trading practices • Tackling the issues of intellectual property crime Promote greater competition across the economy to promote public health, and encourage behaviour change to help people live healthier lives by: • Minimising health inequalities and negative economic impacts through tobacco control, including counterfeit tobacco.

• Protecting young people from the health issues related to excessive alcohol consumption through age restricted sales and removing counterfeit alcohol from the supply chain.

• Promoting greater awareness and responsible consumer behaviour through provision of information, allowing consumers to make informed choices.

Services Available

Partnerships

Safety and Metrology • Product Safety • Weights and Measures • Age restricted products • Explosives • Petroleum Licensing • Control of illicit tobacco

• Public Health Action Team Utilising public health funding we have established a special task force to undertake intelligence led enforcement.

Fair Trading • Scams & Rogue Trading • Criminal Consumer Complaints • Counterfeit Goods • E-crime in relation to rogue traders • Doorstep Crime • Cold Calling • Awareness Zones Licensing • Alcohol and Entertainment Licensing • Taxi and private hire licensing • Gambling Licensing • Licensing Enforcement • Street Trading and Markets • Other licences and Permits 8

• Alcohol Harm Reduction We work in partnership with Durham Constabulary and their Harm Reduction Unit who are co-located along side Environment, Health and Consumer Protection services on joint operations concerning the sale and illicit supply of alcohol.

• National Trading Standards The National Scams team make priority referrals about victims of scams in County Durham. Our staff will then contact and where necessary visit these residents to provide preventative messages warning of the risks of all forms of scams including postal,

telephone and internet scams.

Our Trading Standards Officers work in partnership with the North East Scambuster Team and contribute directly to the delivery of regional initiatives such as Operation Henry which was targeted on the supply of illicit tobacco.

Our team were involved in co-ordinated raids using sniffer dogs within the County which led to the seizure of a large quantity of illicit tobacco.

• National Illegal Money Lending We share intelligence with the National Trading Standards Illegal Money Lending Team to support their investigation of illegal money lending activities and work closely with them on special operations within the County.

Advice We advise anyone planning an event to consult with the County Durham Safety Advisory Group (SAG), which offers advice, guidance and support to ensure public events are safe events.

The SAG is a partnership made up of core members from Durham County Council, Durham Constabulary, Durham & Darlington Fire and Rescue and North East Ambulance services.

The Councils Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy was recently reviewed and agreed in 2016. The policy provides safeguards to improve and protect public safety including a specific requirement for licensees to undergo child sexual exploitation awareness training. These measures contribute to an effective taxi transport regime which is important to the local economy and vibrancy of the County.�

We promote a fair, safe and equitable trading environment for consumers and businesses in County Durham. The Citizens Advice Consumer helpline 0345 4040506 allows consumers to obtain initial advice on a range of issues who then refer criminal matters and notify our team of all instances which involve Durham residents and businesses.

Their role is to promote and encourage high standards of public safety and wellbeing at events held in County Durham.

Officers from our Food Safety, Occupational Safety & Health, Pollution Control and Licensing teams are core members of the SAG and offer essential advice and support for event organisers in the safe planning of events and within the last year have provided advice on over 573 temporary events as well as major public events such as Durham Miners Gala, Lumiere and Kynren.

We test all types of Weights and Measures equipment which is used in the sale of goods to ensure that it complies with relevant standards. We also give advice to traders and consumers within County Durham on the legal requirements for Weights & Measures.

We are responsible for issuing more than 40 different types of Licence, Consents, Permits and Registrations covering a diverse range of activities and trades including sale of alcohol, entertainment and late night refreshment, food businesses, taxis, casinos, animal breeding, street trading, lotteries, pet shops, caravan sites and premises, sale and storage of petrol, performing animals and hypnotism performances.

Our team provide advice and support to individuals and business with regard to licensed activities and in the last year we issued over 4,740 licences.

Our enforcement team check compliance in over 4,000 licensed premises and 1,360 taxi vehicles.

The team work closely with Trading Standards, Environmental Health and other enforcement agencies such as Police, HMRC and Fire and Rescue Services to ensure public safety.

We currently licence 119 gambling premises including bingo, betting offices, track premises and adult gaming centres.

It is a criminal offence for businesses to sell Age Restricted Products including cigarettes, fireworks, and alcohol to people under the age of 18.

Rules apply to lottery tickets, video and computer games, where the age limit can be lower.

Business owners and staff can be prosecuted.

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Tobacco control There are a number of our services that contribute to smoking cessation. Most notable is ensuring compliance with the smoke free legislation in premises and vehicles and tackling underage sales of tobacco and tobacco related products.

Our Consumer Protection team have taken an intelligence led approach to tackling illicit supplies and have seized in excess of 480,000 cigarettes, more than 70kg of illicit hand rolled tobacco and over £50,000 in targeted raids.

Alcohol harm reduction Excessive alcohol consumption is one of the biggest health issues in the UK and causes of ill health within County Durham.

Our officers use a combination of regulation, education and health promotion to tackle alcohol misuse, prevent underage access by children and control counterfeit and illicit supplies.

Co-located with Durham Constabulary’s Harm Reduction Unit we work alongside other public health practitioners to reduce the health and social impacts from alcohol misuse as well as having a direct influence in shaping local licensing policy to control the availability of alcohol.

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‘The conditions which people are born, live, grow, work and age’

Tackling the wider determinants of health

World Health Organisation

Local Authority regulatory services can make a vital impact on the wider determinants of health as well as health improvement and health protection.

alcohol consumption, sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy eating we can help people make healthier choices and take positive steps to improve their overall health and wellbeing.

Poor health does not arise by chance and can be influenced by differences in social and economic conditions of local communities.

The integration of public health services within the local authority setting has placed health improvement at the centre of the Council’s long term priorities.

Tackling the wider determinants of health involves focusing on the root causes of ill health rather than simply treating the consequences of poor health.

Realigning Environment, Health and Consumer Protection services alongside other Adults and Health services strengthens existing joint working arrangements and promotes greater collaborative working between public health practitioners.

Alongside the wider determinants, there is also an ongoing need to encourage and support individual health improvement and behaviour change.

The way we choose to live our lives and the choices we make are often the greatest barriers to good health.

Through raising awareness of detrimental health behaviours such as smoking, excessive

By actively contributing to a more integrated joint strategic needs assessment will enable services to look beyond traditional silos of working and develop new ideas and innovative practice to help reform the delivery of public services that better address local health priorities.

Focus on

health

inequalities

Our primary purpose is to Protect Health and we take a precautionary approach in tackling the causes of poor health as opposed to treating the symptoms.

Our role is very diverse and holistic and our work brings us into daily contact with some of the most deprived and vulnerable individuals within our communities.

We actively work in partnership with a range of other public health professionals and target interventions to address the wider determinants of health to assist those in greatest need and in our most deprived areas so as to reduce health inequalities and bring about long term health improvements.

Raising awareness of healthier lifestyle choices amongst individuals and communities particularly around smoking, excessive drinking and diet is delivered through targeted health campaigns.

Through licensing and planning regimes we can also influence place shaping and control the availability of alcohol, tobacco and other activities which can have a detrimental effect on health and wellbeing.

Providing advice and support to legitimate businesses and tackling rogue trading to ensure fair trading environments helps businesses grow and flourish.

Promoting economic growth and wellbeing can lead to prosperity and job creation which is good for health.

By making the most of the resources available to us and fully utilising the skills, expertise and regulatory powers within our teams we aim to make every contact count and take every opportunity to support vulnerable adults and children in improving their health and wellbeing.

Working alongside the Police and community safety teams to create safer neighbourhoods we can reduce the impact of harm associated with crime and disorder and anti-social behaviour resulting in better public health outcomes for victims, their families and local communities.

Representatives from the service provide scientific and technical advice as part of the multiagency response. We directly contribute to recovery operations surrounding major incidents,

outbreaks of disease and emergencies, particularly where there is a direct impact on public health from environmental hazards such as chemical spillages and air pollution incidents.

Healthy housing Housing remains one of the key wider social determinants of health.

Poor housing conditions have major negative impacts on health and wellbeing.

Access to safe, warm and affordable housing directly contributes to the emotional, physical and mental wellbeing of individuals.

Healthy workplaces Our enforcement responsibility for workplace health and safety puts us in regular contact with local businesses proprietors, and their employees.

Whilst we have specific duties to regulate business and ensure their compliance with relevant legislation, we adopt an educative and graduated enforcement approach in improving workplace safety.

Environment, Health and Consumer Protection services also play a key role in the delivery of effective local resilience plans to improve outcomes and ensure health protection.

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Drivers For Change - The Regulatory Landscape Local authority regulatory services are responsible for the enforcement of national legislation as well as local byelaws which places us at a critical interface between central government departments, national regulators and local stakeholders who benefit from better regulatory outcomes.

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There are many different regulatory regimes in place to deliver these outcomes which has resulted in a very complicated landscape in which the Council work closely with national regulators such as Food Standards Agency, Health & Safety Executive and the Environment Agency, local public services including Durham Constabulary and Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Services as well as other local authorities and enforcement agencies in delivering over 200 pieces of legislation.

A significant proportion of the legislation that we enforce is derived from the implementation of EU Directives.

£ £ £ Resources Since the formation of the Environment, Health and Consumer Protection service in 2009 there have been significant reductions within revenue budgets amounting to over £1.7 Million over last 5 years.

This represents a 28% overall reduction in net budget.

In the main, savings have been found from year on year reductions in staff establishments and delivered wherever possible through supporting individual applications for early retirement and/or voluntary redundancy.

Staff expertise and skills The impact of staff reductions has resulted a loss in professional expertise, skills and experience within service teams.

Nationally the numbers of qualified Environmental Health and Trading Standards professionals is declining and this has presented the service with some difficulty in recruiting suitably qualified staff.

This has resulted in an overall loss in staff numbers of over 50FTE and the service is now operating with an overall 30% reduction in workforce capacity.

In order to mitigate the longer term risk from emerging shortages in skills and expertise we have invested in the professional development of our existing staff to increase their overall knowledge and expertise.

Further reductions are likely over the next three years.

In addition we have worked closely with local universities to support student training placements.

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Supporting business Over the last decade the government has focused on the delivery of regulatory reform to achieve better regulation and has encouraged greater autonomy and devolution to local government.

The Government’s better regulation agenda aims to simplify existing legislation and avoid unnecessary burdens on business, thereby helping them to grow and prosper.

In more recent years, the impact of the recession has placed greater emphasis on the need for local authorities to reduce public spending, maximise their efficiency and deliver value for money.

Deregulation, economic regeneration and supporting local business is a key driver for change and local authority regulatory services need to demonstrate how they can contribute to wider agendas such as place shaping, economic wellbeing and public health improvement.

Customer needs and expectations Whilst certain services that we provide are planned and delivered as part of a scheduled programme of work, the majority of our service requests are customer led, very unpredictable and often present conflicting demands on our workforce. Increasingly customer demands do not always reflect our local priorities and often present further risk to the Council in meeting both its statutory obligations as well as customer expectations.

North East Combined Authority (NECA) NECA was established in April 2014 as a new legal body that brings together seven North East councils including Durham County.

We continue to support NECA and directly contribute to the delivery of strategic regulation across the region to create the best possible conditions for growth in jobs, investment and living standards.

European Union

Maintaining business continuity with the limited resources available, particularly in peak periods of demand, is very challenging. The introduction of risk based inspections and an intelligence led enforcement approach has enabled resources to be targeted more effectively to those areas of our work which present the greatest risks to the public, workers, consumers etc.

During 2015/2016, the service received 21,341 service requests The top 5 service requests are: • Planning & Development Consultations (1416) • Waste Accumulations In Domestic Premises (986) • Noise Nuisance (Barking Dogs) (934) • Pest Control Enforcement (906) • Private Sector Housing Complaints (620)

Much of our legislation is derived from EU directives.

Given the outcome of the EU referendum in 2016, the impact of BREXIT from the European Union and its impact on the extent, scope and future legislative frameworks that exist are yet to be determined.

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Strategic Regulation The development of a strategic approach to regulation is essential in delivering transformational change within the service and across the Council.

For us to continue to deliver our service priorities with the same or less resource and make the necessary contribution to wider policy agendas that we are capable of will present us with a significant challenge.

Building upon our past success and adopting best practice will provide

Better regulatory outcomes We can develop an evidence based approach to help us develop our key service priorities and provide us with a better focus for future regulatory activity and collaborative working with partner organisations.

Delivering our services around priority regulatory outcomes we can target our resources on the things that matter and demonstrate the difference our services can make to the lives of individuals.

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some quick wins but we need to be more innovative and creative in our thinking to transform the way we work so that we can achieve greater efficiencies and deliver better regulatory outcomes.

We need to take a ‘whole systems’ thinking approach to the way we work and interact with our service users to ensure that we continue to provide value for money and the best customer service that we can.

Strengthening the

Place shaping We can take a more strategic and consistent approach to regulation and contribute to wider agendas such as: • Planning & Development • Public Health • Community Safety • Environmental Sustainability • Housing Regeneration • Economic Development We can directly contribute to place shaping within County Durham and the North East Region.

capabilities of our existing workforce and developing the skills, knowledge and expertise of our people through shared learning and personal development will be fundamental in building capacity within service teams.

Identifying synergies with other Council services and other public service providers such as public health, housing, community safety, neighbourhood protection, anti-social behaviour, other local authorities, Police and Fire and Rescue Services

Community empowerment Through learning and development we can support our local communities and encourage greater participation in local decision making processes.

By building confidence and generating social capital to promote community action we can help our communities help themselves.

etc. will provide further opportunity to consider the use of shared resources, service integration, co-location of teams to improve consistency in approach, generate efficiencies and drive service improvement.

Better Use of Information Technology All mobile officers have been provided with mobile phones, laptops and Skype is also available to keep in touch and support more agile working.

ICT training is key to ensure available technology is fully utilised to it’s maximum benefit.

Sustainable Solutions Staff have access to pool cars and two electric bikes as part of our mobile working arrangements which has reduced our overall operational costs.

Smart working

Inspiring places

Inspiring people

Our service demands are unpredictable and capacity is limited. We have found that introducing new ways of working can increase productivity and maintain our workforce capacity.

All EHCP service teams are now based in one location at Annand House in Meadowfield.

Initial investment has already been made to better utilise the accommodation space available within the building and to ensure that it continues to meet our business needs.

Managers exercise discretion in their approach to flexible working. Whilst they empower individuals to manage their own workload the workforce still needs to remain flexible and responsive to changing demands in order to ensure that business continuity is maintained and service standards are met.

Part of the office has been redesigned and hot desking arrangements have been introduced in these areas.

Additional power points have been installed to provide mobile network hubs and are used to promote greater mobile working and support desk sharing by the workforce.

We support individuals using family friendly policies and personal development programmes to maintain levels of expertise within the service.

Through shared learning and investment in training we have been able to facilitate succession planning for the longer term.

Storage has been rationalised and a move towards a paperless office is encouraged where possible. All staff have access to computers, laptops and mobile phones. The management of electronic and paper records is regularly reviewed to reduce storage requirements.

Supporting and inspiring our people improves morale, builds trust, promotes innovation and creativity and has helped us develop a positive culture and maintain a healthy work life balance within the workforce.

needs. With involvement from key partners we want to help reduce burdens on business and find innovative solutions to support business growth and attract further investment into our local areas to boost the local economy.

Through transforming the way we interact with local businesses and reviewing our service offer to provide the right support and advice, we hope to encourage greater self regulation, improve compliance and ensure public protection.

Taking a flexible approach to managing daily working arrangements is essential in meeting service needs and priorities.

A variety of flexible working arrangements for staff have been introduced to meet the needs of the service including the introduction of evening and weekend shifts for those teams regularly working outside of normal core hours.

A duty officer rota has been introduced to ensure that we provide a timely response to service requests whilst allowing those not ‘on duty’ to focus on other proactive and planned work.

Better regulation Our service is in direct contact with local businesses on a daily basis.

In delivering better regulatory services we are supporting the Better Business For All initiative and will work with our local businesses to understand their

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Environment, Health and Consumer Protection PO Box 617, Durham,

DH1 9HZ

w 03000 261 016

 ehcp@durham.gov.uk