Environmental Health provides a wide range of services aimed at protecting residents, visitors and the environment. These are described in this leaflet.
Our priorities are as follows:
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To provide a high quality service, responsive to the requirements of our customers;
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To investigate complaints of public health nuisance;
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To investigate consumer complaints about food safety and health and safety at work;
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To monitor the local environment and identify significant risks to health;
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To work closely with external partners to promote good health;
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To ensure that our service is readily available to all people living and working in, and visiting, the Borough of Gosport.
Many of these services involve a regulatory activity but the majority are educational and advisory. Much of the work includes enforcing laws and encouraging good practice and this work is carried out in accordance with written enforcement policies. In many cases we work closely with other organisations, such as the Environment Agency, Health and Safety Executive, Health Protection Agency or Food Standards Agency or with our partners, such as Hampshire police. We also monitor the work of some others and provide corporate advice on personal health matters and employee health and safety.
Our service standards leaflet is available here or on request from our offices.
Environmental Health forms part of the Council's Environmental Services Unit, which also includes Streetscene.
There are currently 15 full time and 2 part time staff employed in two operational teams, namely -
Pollution & Environment Team dealing with -
Commercial Team dealing with -
Section Management
The Environmental Health Section is managed by David Palmer, Head of Environmental Health. The two Team Leaders are Tom Dagens (food safety & hygiene, licensing & registration and infectious disease control) and Mike Smith (health & safety, health promotion, pollution and pest control). Mike Woods specialises in contaminated land and industrial processes and also deals with special projects.
Freedom of Information and the Environmental Information Regulations
We publish some of the most commonly requested information here.
Customer Feedback
We publish information about any complaints and praise we receive and a copy of the latest report can be downloaded from the related documents list below.
We also carry out surveys of customer satisfaction and our reports are listed below. We recently reviewed how we use customer feedback to improve the information we provide to them; a copy of the report can be downloaded from here.
Satisfaction Survey Reports
April 2004 to January 2005 : covering pollution and pest control
April 2006 to March 2007 : covering pollution, pest control, commercial premises inspection, complaints, advice and licensing
April 2007 to March 2008 : covering the same services as previously
April 2007 to March 2008 Summary (six pages)
All reports include customer comments and equality monitoring results.
Our Performance
Performance of the service is monitored in various ways. Complaints, praise and customer satisfaction have already been mentioned. The standards which govern our work are set out in our Service Standards Leaflet, a copy of which can be downloaded by clicking on the link further down this page.
Some of these standards, plus other measurements about how well we perform, are monitored through a set of performance indicators. A few are national Best Value Performance Indicators which all Councils are required to report; the targets and our performance data can be found on our Best Value page and by following the link to the most recent Best Value Performance Plan we have published.
We also have a set of in-house indicators which we use to monitor how well the service is delivering in several key areas. These do not have to be reported but we post extracts at our Town Hall reception area and further information is available on request. The performance report for 2006/7 is available from this link.
Managers monitor these indicators and we publish details where there have been dips in performance. This is a requirement for our Charter Mark award.
We also compare our services with those of other Councils in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. For details please click here.
For further information please call (023) 9254 5505, 5506 or 5507 during office hours or call at the Town Hall, High Street, Gosport, Hampshire PO12 1EB.
Alternatively e-mail ehs@gosport.gov.uk any time.
To register a complaint or enquiry, or to request a pest control treatment, please follow this link.
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