Issue - meetings

Arising from a report of the Group Manager for Public Health and Regulatory Services, the Community Policy Development Group has made the following recommendations: to approve the Environmental Health Fees and Charges for 2019/2020 and that the missed appointment charge to be in line with the missed appointment charge within the extant Housing Policy used by Building and Housing Services.

Arising from a report of the Group Manager for Public Health and Regulatory Services, the Community Policy Development Group had made the following recommendations: to approve the Environmental Health Fees and Charges for 2019/2020 and that the missed appointment charge to be in line with the missed appointment charge within the extant Housing Policy used by the Building and Housing Services.

The Cabinet Member for Community Well-Being outlined the contents of the report stating that a review of fees and charges was necessary to offset or cover the costs incurred by the authority in carrying out its duties.  He highlighted the current and proposed charges in respect of the environmental health functions along with the statutory and discretionary services provided and explained that a benchmarking exercise had taken place with other local authorities details of which were available at annex 2 of the report.

Consideration was given to the range of services and the proposed charges.

RESOLVED that the recommendation of the Policy Development Group be approved.

(Proposed by Cllr C R Slade and seconded by Cllr R L Stanley)

Note:  *Report previously circulated, copy attached to minutes.

To receive a  report from the Group Manager for Public Health and Regulatory Services presenting the Environmental Health Fees and Charges 2019/20 and to make a recommendation to Cabinet to approve the Charges for 2019/2020.

The Lead Officer of the Commercial Team provided members with the revised *fees and charges for statutory and discretionary functions within the Public Health & Regulatory Services Commercial Team.

He outlined the contents of the report and explained that the recommended charges reflected the actual cost of the service and were not to provide the Council with a profit.

He explained the area’s in which the proposed fees showed a significant change which included:

·         Private water supplies

·         Legionella sampling

·         Asbestos surveys

·         Food safety advice

·         Food export certificates

In response to Members questions he confirmed that the private water investigation charge would reduce from £100 to £50 as it was felt that the current charge was prohibitive.

There was a general discussion on the charge for food safety visits and whether businesses would pay for this service.

With regard to the introduction of a missed appointment charge the Director of Operations advised the Group that the charge should reflect what Building Services charge for a missed appointment. A different level for missed appointments had recently been agreed at the Homes PDG and it was suggested that the fees for missed appointments should be in line with those used across Building and Housing Services.

It was therefore RECOMMENDED to Cabinet to approve the Environmental Health Fees and Charges for 2019/2020 and that the missed appointment charge to be in line with the missed appointment charge within the extant Housing Policy used by Building and Housing Services.

Note: *Report previously circulated and attached to the minutes