Environmental Manageemnt Enforcement Policy

Aims

One of the corporate aims of the council is to make the Chester district a better place to live, work or visit. The Environmental Management Team has a major part to play in protecting the environment for residents, workers and visitors to the district. The actions of the Team have a major impact on assisting in achieving the Council's corporate aims.

Introduction

The purpose of the policy is to ensure efficient compliance with legislation enforced by the Environmental Management Team while minimising the burden on businesses, individuals and other organisations The policy explains the approach adopted when carrying out the Council's duty to enforce a range of legislation. The policy is based on five main principles set out below: -

• Consistency: to ensure that similar issues are dealt with in a similar manner
• Fairness: to ensure a fair and even-handed approach
• Proportionality: to ensure that action taken relates directly to the risk to the environment or public health.
• Transparency: to ensure that enforcement action taken by the council is easily understood by individuals, organisations and businesses and that a clear distinction is made between legal requirements and advice or guidance that is desirable but not compulsory.
• Objectivity: to ensure that decisions are not influenced by the gender, ethnic origin, religious or political beliefs or sexual preferences of the offender, victim or witnesses. Sensitive consideration will be given where persons involved are children, elderly, infirm or suffering from a mental disorder.

Decision Making

Enforcement decisions taken by all authorised officers should abide by this policy. Any departure from the policy will be exceptional, capable of being justified and be fully considered in consultation with the Environment Manager, the Senior Environmental Health Officer within the team and with advice if necessary from the Legal Section.

The council has resolved that authorisation to prosecute has been delegated the Strategic Director (Community Services) and in his absence the appropriate Community Services Manager. In practice the decision to prosecute will be made by the Environment Manager, in consultation with the Environmental Protection Manager and Senior Environmental Health Officer/Environmental Health Officers of the Environmental Management Team and with the advice of the Legal Section.

In deciding whether an officer should be authorised to initiate enforcement action, consideration will be given to the qualifications of the officer and their level of experience in the aspect of environmental protection where the prosecution is to take place. Decisions will be made following reference to the guidance set out in the fourth edition of “The Code for Crown Prosecutors” The council is a signatory to the Cabinet Office “Enforcement Concordat” and the Environment Management enforcement policy has been produced as part of reaching the standards set in the concordat.

Enforcement Options

The council recognises the importance of achieving and maintaining a fair and consistent approach in all its enforcement activities. It is the intention of this authority to follow the guidance contained in relevant documents and Codes of Practice, for example the process guidance notes for local air pollution control issued by DEFRA under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. In order to ensure that the policy is being consistently enforced by authorised officers, an introduction to the policy will be included as part of the induction training of all authorised officers commencing work in the Environmental Protection Team.

In certain situations there is a shared enforcement role with the Environment Agency. In particular there is a shared enforcement role for dealing with unauthorised deposit of waste on land. In situations where there may be a shared enforcement role the matter will be discussed with colleagues at the Agency to establish which authority would be most appropriate to conduct the investigation. The council is a signatory to the Memorandum of Understanding with the Environment Agency, which encourages close working relationships between the Agency and Local Authorities.

Before making a decision on the type of enforcement action to be taken, many criteria have to be considered. These include the seriousness of the offence, the, confidence in the management of the organisation, the consequences of non-compliance, the case history and the likely effectiveness of the various enforcement options.

Having considered all relevant information and evidence, the choices for action are:-

• promotion
• to take informal action
• to take formal action
• to use formal cautions

• to prosecute

Promotion

Promotion will be used to raise the awareness about legal standards and promote good practice. This may be achieved by the issuing of press releases, the distribution of leaflets, public displays and face to face contact.

Informal Action

Informal action to secure compliance with legislation will be used where the legislation may have been broken or where a minor offence has been committed and it was not considered appropriate to take any other action. Informal action includes offering advice, verbal  warnings and requests for action. Informal warnings should be followed up by a written notification.

• The following circumstances are appropriate for the use of informal action:-
• The act or omission is not serious enough to warrant formal action
• From the individual’s/enterprise’s past history, it can be reasonably expected that informal action will achieve compliance
• Confidence in the individual’s/enterprise’s management involved is high
• The consequences of non-compliance will not pose a significant risk topublic health or the environment.

Formal Action

This includes the use of legal notices, the refusal to grant a licence, or power to revoke a licence or permit, the carrying out of works in default. The council may also take action to enforce conditions on licences that it issues where the conditions have not been complied.

The most common form of formal action taken by officers within the Environmental Protection Team is by the serving of an Abatement Notice under the terms of Section 80 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The Strategic Director (Community Services) generally signs notices although Environmental Health Officers within the team are authorised to sign notices in certain circumstances. Each notice is accompanied by an Action Taken Sheet Entry.

Prosecution

The decision to take evidence with a view to prosecution is to be made by authorised officers during their inspection of the premises. The decision to submit the evidence for formal action to be instigated is to be made by the Strategic Director (Community Services )in consultation with the Environment Manager and the Inspecting Officer with the advice of the councils Legal Services.

The following criteria may indicate circumstances where prosecution is appropriate:-

• where the alleged offence involves a flagrant breach of the law such that
• public health, or the environment is or has been put at risk
• where the alleged offence involves a failure by the suspected offender to
• correct an identified serious potential risk to the environment or public
• health having been given a reasonable opportunity to comply with the
• lawful requirements of an authorised officer
• where the offence involves a failure to comply in full or part with the
• requirements of a statutory notice or failure to comply with licence
• conditions.
• where there is a history of similar offences related to risk to public health.

A successful outcome will depend to a large extent on the satisfactory presentation of evidence. There must be sufficient evidence to give a realistic prospect of conviction. Authorised officers will ensure that they follow Police and Criminal Evidence guidelines.

The final decision to prosecute will be made in the light of the guidance for Crown Prosecutors. Reference will also be made to Code of Practice No 2, paras 17 to 19. All evidence will be submitted to the Legal Section who will also consider whether there is a realistic prospect of conviction.

Any prosecution will be brought without any undue delay.

Formal Cautions

It is the policy of the council to consider the use of formal cautions in line with Home Office Circular 59/1990. The Strategic Director (Community Service) has been authorised by the Councils Constitution to act as Cautioning Officer.

A formal caution will be considered in cases where there is sufficient evidence to give a realistic prospect of conviction as for a normal prosecution. A formal caution may be considered under the following circumstances:-

• where the offence is not a serious one and could be swiftly dealt with
• to divert a less serious offence away from the court
• to reduce the chances of a repeat offence
• where the offender is freely willing to admit guilt and to give informed
• consent to the caution being administered.

The decision to issue a formal caution will be made by the Cautioning Officer after consultation with the Environmental Protection Manager and the investigating officers.

Verification and Consistency Management

The purpose of this procedure is to ensure a consistent and effective enforcement procedure for the Environmental Management Team. The Environmental Protection Manager will ensure that all inspections and actions are in accordance with this Policy, that they are monitored and, if necessary, suitable corrective action is taken.

The Environmental Protection Manager will accompany each member of the Environmental Management Team on at least one inspection per year to ensure consistency of approach and conformance with this Policy and its procedures.

Following each accompanied inspection, the Environment Manager will arrange a de-briefing meeting to discuss the inspection with the Officer within 5 working days.

Policy Review

The Environmental Protection Manager will review this Enforcement Policy every twelve months and the council will agree any necessary changes. The review will give consideration to any new legislation, Codes of Practice or guidance notes that concern environmental protection enforcement action. The review will also consider the need for any additional training, refresher courses etc which may become evident during the year.

Complaints Procedure

If somebody has a complaint regarding any aspect of this procedure they should in the first instance contact David Hosker the Environmental Protection Manager on Chester (01244 402310) If his response to your complaint fails to resolve the matter you may request an official complaints form and the issue will be addressed through the council’s formal complaints procedure.

Official complaint forms may be obtained from any reception desk in the Forum Office or by contacting the Council Management Team on Chester (01244 402121)