Introduction
The Regulation & Enforcement Service (‘the Service’) exists to protect the public, the natural and built environments, consumers, employees, tenants and animals from harm. The Service also supports the maintenance of a fair trading environment and sets the conditions to generate growth and economic prosperity.
The Service includes environmental health (including functions relating to food safety, workplace health & safety, pollution control, public health, housing, animal welfare and environmental crime), planning enforcement, and licensing. This policy applies to officers employed in any of those teams.
This policy replaces the previous policy, dated September 2020, and provides guidance to stakeholders on the range of options available to officers of the Service in the execution of their duties.
Throughout this policy, ‘stakeholder’ refers to officers, councillors, licence holders, business operators, employers, employees, other law enforcement agencies, voluntary groups, and the general public.
In terms of regulating businesses, the primary objective of the Service is to secure compliance, and officers will seek to do this predominantly through advice and education, although enforcement action will be taken where it is reasonable and proportionate to do so.
In terms of law enforcement, there are a range of offences that the Service is charged with investigating where the level of culpability and harm indicates that enforcement action is almost always reasonable and proportionate.
This policy outlines the objectives and methods for achieving compliance and the criteria considered when taking enforcement action where an offence is committed.
Enforcement decisions will have regard to statutory guidance and codes, and particularly the Regulators’ Code and the Code for Crown Prosecutors.
Review of the policy
This policy will be reviewed annually or following significant changes to relevant legislation or government guidance.