Councillor Pamela Fleming of London Borough of Richmond was appointed as Chair of the Joint Regulatory Services Committee for 2015-16.

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of pecuniary interest.

Councillor Rita Palmer referred to Item 5 on the minutes of the meeting on 23 February and asked officers about the availability of noise measurement machines for Richmond residents to use to record nuisance noise.  Paul Foster (Head of Regulatory Services Partnership) explained that although domestic noise complaints made to LBR would go to Environmental Health (EH) within the housing department machines are available but EH officers would probably request a diary to be completed prior to using the machine. In law to establish a noise nuisance there has to be evidence of duration, type and frequency of the noise. Jason Andrews (Environmental Health Pollution Manager) confirmed that 7 pieces of shared measurement equipment were available and kept fully up to date and calibrated. 

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 23 February 2015 be agreed as a correct record.

Paul Foster (Head of the Regulatory Services Partnership) presented the Annual Performance report of the Joint Regulatory Services. He highlighted that effective management of performance is vital to the success of the shared service, and that performance indicators had been set and monitored. He also asked Members to note that external agencies, detailed in the report, monitored the performance of the partnership. 

The Report considered performance across the four operational areas:

•           Environmental Health- Commercial  -

•           Environmental Health- Pollution

•           Licensing Team

•           Trading Standards Team

The Head of the Regulatory Services Partnership introduced the section of the report dealing with Environmental Health (Commercial Team). Members noted the information in the report and discussed:

•           Food Standards Agency Audit of Richmond – Members noted the information in the report regarding the successful outcome of this audit.  Members discussed Enforcement Policy and noted that enforcement should be proportionate and that less than 1% of businesses are closed by enforcement action. Members asked if an advisory service, with a charge, could be offered for businesses before reaching the final enforcement stage.

•           Food Hygiene Ratings – Members noted that both boroughs operate the Food Standards Agency Hygiene rating Scheme (FHRS) which is an internet based scoring system. England, unlike the rest of the UK, has not made it mandatory for the scores from this scheme to be physically displayed on the shop or restaurant front. Whilst Members felt that this might penalise small businesses they also thought that it would be of real benefit to the Consumer to have these score displayed. Officers said that since the website had been launched standards have been raised as businesses have been more competitive in trying to achieve high ratings and have asked for more inspections to boost their ratings. Member requested more information on this issue and asked the Head of the Regulatory Services Partnership for a briefing Paper to be circulated before the next meeting.

•           Wimbledon Tennis and The Rugby World Cup – Members noted the information in the report regarding the hosting of these two major sporting events and the work this creates for the partnership services. They noted the amount of work that was being done to prepare for the Rugby World Cup and the success of the work at this years Wimbledon Tennis Championship.

The Head of the Regulatory Services Partnership introduced the section of the report dealing with Licensing. Members noted the information in the report and discussed:

•           Cumulative Impact Zones (CIZ) – the Committee noted that Merton already had two – Wimbledon Village and Wimbledon Broadway, and that a third was being proposed for Mitcham Town Centre, where the concerns were related to Street Drinking.

•           Telephone Calls received by licensing departments – Officers explained that the two boroughs had very different administrative systems relating to incoming telephone calls. Richmond had a business support team that answered calls and recharged to the relevant department. This created an exact record of number of calls received. Merton  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Committee agreed that the next formal public meeting of the Committee would be on 9 February 2016 and that this meeting would consider Fees and Charges.  Councillor Nick Draper asked about the £130,000 overspend by LBM on the service. John Hill explained that this was the result of Phase two not being implemented on 1 April 2015, and so staff savings were not yet realised, adjustments would be made to account for this.  It was also agreed that Officers and Members would meet informally prior to this meeting

Members and Officers noted that representatives, both Councillor and Officer, from Wandsworth Council would be attending this meeting

RESOLVED: The next meeting of the Joint Regulatory Services Committee would be held on 9th February 2016 at 10am at Richmond Civic Centre