Decision details

The Health and Wellbeing Manager submitted a report seeking approval for changes to the structure of the Private Sector Housing service.

Changes to the Housing Act 2004 and the introduction of new legislation had seen a dramatic increase in the work load for the Private Sector Housing service. In 2014 the service had undergone a restructure and two qualified Environmental Health Officers had taken up posts within the service. However, these two officers had recently left the authority leaving the service without officers that were experienced in delivering the statutory enforcement duties that the authority was responsible for.

The report proposed to delete the two vacant posts and establish 2 FTE Housing Regulation Officer posts with the essential requirement that both post holders be qualified Environmental Health professionals. Due to the expected increase in workload owing to further changes in legislation, the report also proposed to continually review the service’s staffing levels and seek approval for further changes as necessary.

The current and the proposed staffing structures were attached as appendices to the report along with the job descriptions and person specifications for the 2 new posts.

Consultation with existing employees had been undertaken, however, as the new posts were currently vacant there were no existing employees affected by the changes.

The report outlined the human resources, financial and legal implications. Alternative options along with their reasons for rejection were included in the report.

*RESOLVED –

1.   That the changes to the structure of the Private Sector Housing Team be approved.

2.   That the proposals to delete existing posts and to establish new posts, as detailed in paragraph 3.20 of the officer’s report, be approved.

3.   That the Health and Wellbeing Manager be authorised to implement the changes.

REASON FOR DECISIONS

To ensure that the Local Authority is able to meet its statutory duties with regard to Private Sector Housing.