Agenda, decisions and minutes

None.

The Portfolio Holder is asked to sign the minutes of the meeting held on 14 October 2014 as a correct record. 

The minutes of the meeting held on 14 October 2014 were agreed as a correct record.

The Environmental Services Portfolio Holder

AGREED

A)   To continue the scheme at all centres for a further three-years at the reduced cost, providing the coordination within existing resources at the Council.

B)   To review the scheme every 6-month and make recommendations to the Portfolio Holder

C)   To further promote the scheme with GPs to increase take-up and targeting of the right people.

The Director of Health and Environmental Services presented this item which reviewed the South Cambridgeshire Active and Healthy for Life scheme and sought the Portfolio Holder’s views on future developments.

The Environmental Services Portfolio Holder asked that he be kept informed of the number of clients on the scheme as there was a cost of £12 per assessment and the budget of £10,100 could cover 300 assessments. It was noted that funding from Public Health had been declined on the grounds of cost as it was dependent on the scheme being free to clients at the point of delivery.

The Environmental Health Officer – Public Health Specialist reported that evidence showed that this referral scheme had a positive effect on the health of participants, with a lowering of cholesterol especially those aged over 50.

The Environmental Services Portfolio Holder

AGREED

A)   To continue the scheme at all centres for a further three-years at the reduced cost, providing the coordination within existing resources at the Council.

B)   To review the scheme every 6-month and make recommendations to the Portfolio Holder.

C)   To further promote the scheme with GPs to increase take-up and targeting of the right people.

The Environmental Services Portfolio Holder

AGREED        the proposed fees and charges set out in Appendix 1 of the report, with the correction for the charge for a licence for a house in multiple occupancy for 2015/16 to £630 per 5 year period.

The Director of Health and Environmental Services introduced this item which proposed fees and charges for the 2015/16 financial year.

Minor amendments

On page 17 of the agenda the final bullet point under the heading “Annual Subsistence Charge” was amended to read “… i.e. Mineral drying”. On page 20 of the agenda the charge for a licence for a house in multiple occupancy for 2015/16 was amended to £630.

Trade waste
It was noted that the charge for 2014/15 for collecting a 240 litre container of trade waste was to be increased to £6 to ensure that the service did not run at a loss.

Caravan site

With regard to the change of fees for Caravan sites the Head of Service, Environmental Health and Licensing explained that those affected by the new charge scheme, which would be introduced in April 2015, had been informed. He agreed to provide formal guidance to councillors regarding these charges.

The Environmental Services Portfolio Holder

AGREED        the proposed fees and charges set out in Appendix 1 of the report, with the correction for the charge for a licence for a house in multiple occupancy for 2015/16 to £630 per 5 year period.

The Environmental Services Portfolio Holder

AGREED        the action plan at Appendix 1 to address the Food Standards Agency priorities.

The Director of Health and Environmental Services introduced this item, which informed the Portfolio Holder of the outcome of the Food Standards Agency audit and the measures proposed to address the issues raised. He explained that the team had been reorganised to ensure that the Council could minimise the number of visits it undertook by ensuring that Environmental Health Officers were multi-skilled and were able to carry out a number of different tasks in a single visit.

The Council were receiving assistance from qualified food safety officers from Huntingdonshire District Council prior to the authority recruiting its own lead food safety officer.

The Director of Health and Environmental Services reported that the Council needed to ensure that its resources were being directed at premises where visits were required and this could result in well-run premises receiving less visits than the minimum number recommended by the Food Standards Agency.

The Environmental Services Portfolio Holder

AGREED        the action plan at Appendix 1 to address the Food Standards Agency priorities.

The Environmental Services Portfolio Holder

AGREED        the proposed policy attached as Appendix 1.

The Head of Service, Environmental Health and Licensing introduced this report which proposed a charging policy in respect of caravan site licence fees as required by the Mobile Homes Act 2013. He explained that reviewing the policy for fee calculation every two years worked well for taxi licensing.

It was noted that a partial Equality Impact Assessment had been completed and whilst implementing the Caravan Site Licensing Mobile Homes Act 2013 had equality implications, this decision regarding how to set the fees did not.

The Environmental Services Portfolio Holder

AGREED        the proposed policy attached as Appendix 1.

It was noted that the following items would be discussed at February’s meeting:

·         Department Service Plan 2015-20

·         Waste Collection Shared Service with the City Council

Please bring your diaries.

Wednesday 25 February 2014 at 2pm.