Overview & Scrutiny Committee 26 th July 2018 Services covered by - - PDF document

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Overview & Scrutiny Committee 26th July 2018

Services covered by the Environment Portfolio:

• Parking Services for Hertsmere & Three Rivers DC
• Parks & Open Spaces
• Street Cleansing & Pest Control
• Engineering Services
• Environmental Health
• Waste & Recycling Collections

– Overall budget £8 million, 41% of the councils annual budget

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• Managing the supply and cost of car parking is an effective means of

addressing on‐street congestion

• Managing parking space, using controlled parking zones and permits, in

residential areas can improve the quality of resident’s local environment. The council has a review program to ensure parking controls continue to meet the needs of the population

• The enforcement team consists of 16 officers on patrol and a team of six

administering the permit and penalty charge notice system, annually there are approx. 8,000 permits taken up and 7,000 Penalty Charge Notices issued

• In accordance with legislation any revenue surplus has to be re‐invested into

the service, improving car parks as an example

• The introduction of electric charging points to the borough

Parking Services

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• Grounds Maintenance : grass cutting, shrub pruning, parks cleansing done as part
• f long term contract with long term partner John O’Connor Ltd, a locally based

service provider. Annual cost £550k

• Green flags: seven parks in Hertsmere have again been awarded Green Flag status

– King George Recreation Ground in Bushey – Mary Forsdyke & Warren Lake in Bushey (NEW 2018 FOLLOWING INVESTMENT IN 2017) – Oakmere Park in Potters Bar – Aberford Park in Borehamwood – Parkfield in Potters Bar – Fishers Field Nature Reserve in Bushey received a special Green Flag Community Award for the seventh time in recognition of work carried out by local volunteers – Bushey Rose Garden received Green Heritage Site accreditation

• Trees: to provide a professional arboricultural service relating to the protection

and care of HBC owned trees and hedgerows in the local environment

• Maintenance of Burial Provision in the Borough: the council maintains and runs

the Allum Lane Lawn Cemetery and provides grant funding for a number of closed

• churchyards. Interments run at approx. 150 per year

Parks and Open Spaces

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• All main shopping parades maintained daily; litter picking, litter bin emptying,

mechanical sweeping of footways

• Programme of mechanical road sweeping across the borough
• Fly tip clearance, collection and disposal of dead animals
• Emptying of all litter/dog bins outside of the borough’s parks
• Bulky waste collection service, e.g. fridges/freezers, beds/sofas ‐ this is a charged

service £45 for three items

• Pest control service: deals with wasps/rats and infestations.

Street Cleansing and Pest Control

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• Car Park Refurbishment Program : phase 3 now complete ( ducting provided for electric

charging units)

• Land Drainage Major Works Programme: provides environmental enhancements in its

delivery which includes feasibility, design and construction.

• Land Drainage Byelaws: management and enforcement.
• 24 hr response to strategic flood defence assets on behalf of the council / 24 hr

response to emergencies including sandbag provision/delivery.

• Provision of a 24 hour emergency response to events to meet the requirements of the

Emergency Plan.

• Management of residual highway functions, including maintenance of unadopted

highways, HBC owned street furniture, residual lighting, street nameplates, HBC maintained bus shelters.

Engineering Services

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• Routine and reactive Food Hygiene Inspections of over 800 premises
• Health and Safety inspection and enforcement at over 1500 workplaces
• Food poisoning, infectious disease and accident investigations
• Food and Health and Safety Training courses.
• Investigation and enforcement action; rubbish, fly tipping, public health pests and

drainage, leading on Pride in Hertsmere

• Investigation and enforcement of statutory nuisance from noise, odour, light etc
• Air Quality – 2 automated air quality monitoring stations and passive monitoring

in over 60 sites around the borough.

• Contaminated Land – investigation, conditioning planning applications,
• Administration of Disabled Facilities Grants
• Out of Hours service for Statutory nuisance and other serious matters
• Emergency Planning coordination and training

Environmental Health

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• Licencing of Hackney Carriages and drivers and Private Hire drivers,

vehicles and operators.

• Licensing of Alcohol and entertainment at premises, personal licences

and temporary event notifications.

• Working in Partnership: with Police, Gambling Commission, HCC
• Animal Welfare licensing – Horse riding establishments, Dog and Cat

boarding, pet shops and zoos

• Registration of Skin Piercing –Tattooing, Electrolysis, Acupuncture and

Body Piercing

• Local Authority Pollution Control Permitting for petrol stations, paint

sprayers, dry cleaners etc

Environmental Health ‐Licensing

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We currently achieve a recycling rate of 45% through a fortnightly collection of: Brown Bin: Dry recycling (Plastic/Cans/Cardboard/Glass/Cartons) Green Bin: Garden & food waste Blue Box: Paper Black Bin: Residual waste The service is provided to every household (42,000) in the borough = 84,000 collections every week.

• The service collects waste and recycling from households only.
• There is a completely separate service for trade (commercial) waste; approx. 600

customers and a small number of recycling collection customers.

• Household and trade/commercial waste cannot by law be mixed together in either

collection or disposal. Clinical Waste: we currently collect clinical waste weekly from residential properties (sharps boxes and offensive waste) and 34 commercial contracts at various locations (a mixture of sharps boxes and other infectious waste).

Waste and Recycling Collections

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