Taking a breath for a midweek review – it’s been a busy and interesting week so far.
On Monday I attended the joint Public Protection Partnership Committee at West Berkshire Council. It was particularly interesting for me as I was the first member involved and helped set up the board about 10 years ago, I am also a member of WBC licencing committee, so I take a close interest in its work.
The PPP is a shared service between Bracknell, West Berkshire and Wokingham, covering trading standards, environmental health and housing standards.
Items on the agenda included the Q3 performance report, a strategy for the use of AI, an air quality update, the implications of the Renters Rights Act, and the annual Water Safety report.
One interesting point was that there is now only one Air Quality Management Area across all three councils – Wokingham Town Centre. I have asked why this is the case, as changes such as DEF technology on diesel vehicles appear to have improved air quality more widely.
To give a flavour of the work carried out in the last quarter alone:
122 domestic noise nuisance complaints
54 pest control enforcement cases
61 licensing inspections – including joint work with TVP, DVSA and Immigration, with four prosecutions underway
Ongoing work tackling fraud and illicit goods – including a sniffer dog locating hidden caches of cigarettes and tobacco, as well as fake Labubu dolls. Fraud losses in our borough alone totalled £279,945
Animal health officers carrying out Salmonella testing and welfare inspections to protect pets
141 food hygiene requests, including investigations into pizza toppings and testing chocolate to ensure it actually qualifies as chocolate
A convenience store was prosecuted for selling dangerous vodka
A fascinating insight into the wide range of work that quietly goes on behind the scenes to protect residents and consumers.
