Environmental Health Standards

Abandoned vehicles

We have a duty to remove abandoned vehicles including trailers and caravans. An abandoned vehicle is one where no one claims ownership.

The time it takes to remove abandoned vehicles depends on where the vehicle is, its condition and what we learn from our enquiries. Once we remove abandoned vehicles they are stored, sold off or sent for reprocessing. It is a criminal offence to abandon a vehicle and can result in a fine, imprisonment or both. We can also claim back the cost of removing and disposing of the vehicle.

We will:

  • Start to investigate all reports of abandoned vehicles within one working day
  • Remove abandoned vehicles as quickly as the law permits and, once we have confirmed it is abandoned, within 24 hours
  • Take enforcement action against anyone found to have abandoned a vehicle and recover our costs

Help us to help you

  • Dispose of your unwanted vehicles responsibly and legally
  • Report abandoned vehicles to us letting us know:
  1. your name, address and telephone number
  2. where the vehicle is
  3. the vehicle colour, registration number and the make and model
  4. the general condition of the vehicle for example, is it burnt out or have smashed windows
  5. how long it has been there
  6. if it has a current tax disc and the expiry date
  7. we will also ask if you know who the owner of the land is and who the last owner of the vehicle might be
  • Report any untaxed vehicles to the DVLA hotline on 0800 325202

Dog control

Our dog warden service aims to promote responsible dog ownership through a combination of advice, education and enforcement, helping to make sure that our environment is safe and clean to live in.

We will:

  • Investigate reports of stray dogs and dog fouling
  • Seize stray dogs and either return them to their owner or take them to a holding kennel. The dog's owner will be charged a fee
  • Provide advice and information on responsible dog ownership.
  • Kennel stray dogs for seven days before they are passed on for rehoming

Help us to help you

  • Act responsibly and think of how others may respond to your dog
  • Don't let your dog stray and clear up after your dog has fouled
  • Make sure your dog wears a collar and has a visible identification tag
  • If you lose your dog, contact us straight away with a full description and where and when it was lost
  • Treat our staff and Wood Green Animal Shelter staff with respect

Fly tipping

Fly tipping is the illegal dumping of any waste and can range from a sack of domestic rubbish to lorry loads of commercial waste. It's not only antisocial but can pollute your environment and be dangerous to children.

We will:

  • Start to investigate all fly tipping reports within three working days
  • Offer advice on the best way to dispose of waste within two working days of a request
  • Remove fly-tips from public land (and from private land for a fee)
  • Take appropriate enforcement action against fly tippers

Food safety

We aim to make sure that the food produced, sold or served to you is safe to eat and drink.

We will:

  • Carry out routine inspections of food premises
  • Investigate complaints about food and food premises and take appropriate action
  • Provide food hygiene training courses
  • Sample foods for analysis, taking appropriate action if needed
  • Investigate all food poisoning cases to prevent the risk of it spreading and to remove the source
  • Respond to all food alerts where action is required by environmental health staff
  • Respond to food poisoning and infectious disease notifications within 24 hours
  • Respond to requests for advice by food businesses within four working days

Help us to help you

  • Send us your food or food premises complaints
  • Advise us of bad practices you have seen
  • Keep any 'suspect' food for later examination

General environmental health and nuisances

We will:

  • Try to solve problems with everyone involved, without using the law unless it is necessary
  • Inspect and regulate business and industry to make sure they are meeting air quality standards
  • Provide relevant and appropriate training courses for businesses
  • Provide a 24 hour, seven days a week response service for environmental health emergencies
  • Monitor local air quality and publish results on our website, checking them against national targets
  • Inspect the district for contaminated land and require it to be cleaned up where appropriate
  • Monitor water supplies and swimming pools
  • Make sure you are given a full explanation of any actions we take and the result

Help us to help you

  • Provide honest and truthful information
  • Only make genuine complaints
  • Be polite to any other people involved and to our officers
  • Keep a 14 day logsheet to record the level and nature of the nuisance
  • Try to speak to the person creating the problem to solve the complaint before contacting us
  • Give your name when making a complaint. In general, anonymous complaints will not be investigated

Health and safety

We enforce health and safety legislation in many places including:

  • Offices, shops, and warehouses
  • Residential care homes
  • Builders' merchants
  • Tyre and exhaust fitting centres

We inspect premises depending on the level of hazard and risk they present. We also investigate workplace accidents and complaints and allegations of health and safely failures

We will:

  • Carry out inspections of Local Authority enforced premises
  • Investigate health and safety complaints and take appropriate action
  • Provide health and safety training courses
  • Investigate all reportable accidents and dangerous incidents
  • Redirect your complaint to the appropriate organisation if the matter is not our responsibility
  • Record anonymous complaints and decide on appropriate action
  • Respond to accident notifications with 24 hours

Help us to help you

  • Tell us about any health and safety concerns you may have
  • Co-operate with us when we are investigating accidents

Household waste collection and recycling

We are responsible for arranging household collection of recycling materials and waste. South Cambridgeshire has a kerbside wheeled bin and recycling box service. The normal collection time is between 7.00 am to 6.00 pm on a scheduled day.

We will:

  • Provide an alternate weekly waste and recycling collection service, collecting waste one week and recyclables the next
  • Provide you with two free wheeled bins and a recycling box
  • Regularly advertise your collection day and let you know of any changes
  • Collect your bin/box on the day we say we will
  • Collect any missed bins or boxes that meet our collection criteria, within two days of your original collection day, provided you report it to us by 3.30pm the day after it should have been collected

Help us to help you

  • Leave your bin at the edge of your home nearest to the road, or at an agreed collection point, by 7.00am on your collection day
  • Correctly sort your waste and recycling into the right bin or box and only use the bins/boxes we have given you
  • Don't overfill your bins so the lids can't close
  • Use other recycling facilities in the district as much as possible
  • Report any missed collection by 3.30pm the day after it should have been collected

Licensing

Licensing can have a positive impact on our communities. We are responsible for issuing alcohol, public entertainment, theatre, cinema, taxi and private hire vehicle licences.

We will:

  • Make sure that all licence applications are processed correctly, legally and in the time we say we will
  • Check that licence-holders are keeping to the terms of their licence, involving other agencies if necessary
  • Process licence applications in the timescales given in the licence application pack. Once we have all the relevant documents, we will:
  1. give a decision on premises licence applications within two months
  2. give a decision on personal licence applications within three months

Help us to help you

  • Send in application forms in good time
  • Give us all the information we ask for
  • Read the guidance we send out with the application forms

Pest control

Pests are a public health hazard and can carry diseases that can be passed on to people. The council deals with a range of pests.

We will:

  • Offer a service to deal with wasps, hornets, cockroaches, bedbugs, fleas and squirrels (in the home) and rats and mice in and around the home
  • Book an appointment with you to carry out treatment at a time convenient for you between 8.00am and 4.00pm Monday to Friday
  • Investigate pest infestation complaints and require owners to take appropriate action
  • Enforce appropriate legislation, including laws covering food premises
  • Carry out a first treatment within four working days of your request, during seasonal peaks this may be longer
  • If you send or bring us a pest specimen, we will get back to you within three working days to let you know what type of pest it is and how to treat it. This may take longer if the pest is difficult to identify

Help us to help you

  • When you ask for our pest control service, tell us: what the pest/s is/are, where it has been seen and how we can get access to the area where the pest is
  • Make sure somebody is at home for any appointments and can give us access to all areas needing treatment
  • Advise us straight away if you need to change your appointment
  • Read and keep the health and safety advice we give you

Private sector housing and private rented housing

We work to make sure that homes in the private sector are fit for human habitation, kept in reasonable repair and are not overcrowded.

We mainly work with tenants in private rented accommodation where landlords are responsible for keeping homes in a reasonable standard of repair. We can take action against landlords who fail to maintain their property with adequate facilities and in reasonable repair.

We will:

  • Offer advice to owners and landlords on house improvements and minimum housing standards
  • Investigate tenant complaints about accommodation
  • Routinely inspect mobile home sites including Traveller sites, to make sure they meet the conditions of their licence
  • Provide grants to help those most in need to adapt/improve their home
  • Promote grants to improve energy efficiency

Help us to help you

  • Try speaking to the owner of the property to resolve any complaint before you contact us

Street cleaning

We aim to keep South Cambridgeshire free from litter and rubbish by litter picking streets and lay-bys, emptying litter and dog-waste bins and road sweeping.

We will:

  • Litter pick areas every six months, every month or every week depending on the area
  • Sweep all roads in villages every two months
  • Sweep kerbed sections of road outside villages every six months
  • Collect waste from litter and dog-waste bins at least once a week

Help us to help you

  • Use litter and dog waste bins
  • Let us know when the bins are full
  • Get rid of your litter responsibly

Alternatively, you can download the Customer Service standards- Environmental Health Services leaflet .

Stonewall, Gay and Lesbian Charity - opens in a new window Beacon Authority logo Investor in People logo