Revised Enforcement Policies

The Council recently revised it's generic and Environmental Health-specific enforcement policies and now seeks the opinion of any stakeholder, whether from the business sector, private individuals, neighbouring Councils or other interested organisations.

Why is This Important to You?

The purpose of enforcement is to protect the public, the environment and groups such as consumers and workers. Enforcement can include offering advice and assistance as well as more formal action.

Formal enforcement action is usually an option of last resort, except in urgent or emergency cases, and remains an important part of the Council's approach to regulation. Most businesses want to comply with the law and the Council will, whenever possible, try to help businesses meet their legal obligations on the basis that prevention is better than cure.

Enforcement action can make a positive contribution to economic growth by acting against rogue traders and helping to create a level playing field for businesses.

It is important that enforcement action by any regulator is always :

• transparent - i.e. is based on clear, understandable policies

• accountable - including consultation arrangements (such as this) and having complaint procedures in place in case things go wrong

• proportionate to the risk - ensuring that any action we require is not excessive

• consistent -  although authorised staff are expected to exercise judgement in individual cases it is important to maintain consistency

• targeted where it is needed, i.e. in the areas of greatest risk.

Reason for Revising These Policies

In December 2007 the Government published the Regulator's Compliance Code. This covers a wide range of enforcement activity affecting businesses and sets out requirements for councils. It comes into effect on 6th April 2008.

Where the Code does not apply the Council will continue to follow the principles of the Cabinet Office Enforcement Concordat, which we adopted in 2000.

A number of national bodies have issued guidance on enforcement action. We take account of this in all our regulatory work.

As well as incorporating the requirements of the new Code, the revised Environmental Health enforcement policy merges three earlier versions (covering food safety, health & safety and licensing) into one together with the smoke free laws introduced in 2007.

Consultation

There was not enough time for the Council to consult on the revised enforcement policies before the April deadline.

The new policies were therefore approved subject to consultation over the coming months.

Stakeholder feedback will be analysed and any amendments considered by Councillors in September 2008.

Who Are Our Stakeholders?

Stakeholders fall into the following categories –

• business proprietors : this is the group most likely to be the subject of a 'regulatory intervention' by the Council, for instance in the areas of food safety or health and safety at work

• people who make a complaint to the Council about anything which has a potential to become an enforcement issue. This encompasses the vast majority of our reactive work although only a very small proportion of these cases results in formal enforcement action

• 'offenders' : these will be individual citizens who, perhaps through some form of anti-social behaviour, give rise to complaint and become the subject of a 'regulatory intervention'

• the Police and local Court Service : the police, local Magistrates and Clerks have an interest in our new policies

• neighbouring local authorities will be interested in our proposals, especially in terms of ensuring cross-boundary consistency.

Any of these stakeholders could be members of Black and Minority Ethnic Groups or other 'hard to reach' groups.

Stakeholder Consultation Process

The consultation will be carried out in the following ways :

• mail shots : an invitation to contribute to the policy development process will be offered to businesses and local courts

• web site : a copy of the revised policies will be posted on the Council's web site and responses invited

• business newsletter : the Council's Economic Prosperity Section publishes a newsletter which is sent to all businesses within the Borough. The enforcement policy has been mentioned in an article and proprietors invited to participate in the consultation

• individual discussion during visits to businesses : the issue will be raised by staff whilst visiting in the course of routine duties and/or when investigating complaints, etc.

• e-mail circulation to neighbouring local authorities and police

• inclusion with customer satisfaction survey questionnaires

Further Information

Downloadable versions of the new policies are at the bottom of this page. Printed copies of the policies are available on request from the Environmental Health Section by :

• telephoning 023 9254 5505, 5506, 5507 or 5583 during office hours

• e-mailing a request to ehs@gosport.gov.uk at ay time

• visiting the Environmental Health Reception at Gosport Town Hall between 9 and 5, Monday to Friday.

Consultation Timetable and Process

The deadline for feedback is 1 July 2008.

Consultees should post their responses to :

Enforcement Consultation

Gosport Borough Council

Environmental Health

FREEPOST PO 10870

Town Hall, High Street

Gosport PO12 1YZ

or e-mail them to ehs@gosport.gov.uk

Use of the supplied response form, available on request or by downloading from the link below, is preferred.

Officers will analyse the responses and prepare a report for Councillors who will consider what changes need to be made during the September 2008 Board and Council Meeting cycle.