Decisions on the following items were taken by the Leader of the
Council in the absence of the Neighbourhood, Environment and
Communities Cabinet Member.
30 (30) WALKING THE WAY TO HEALTH – The
Service Director Neighbourhood and Environment submitted a report
seeking approval to permanently fund the part time Health Walks
Co-ordinator post.
Walking the Way to Health was a project targeted to improve
personal physical health through organised walks. Walking was not
only one of the best ways to increase levels of physical activity,
but it also helped considerably with improving mental health and
providing an increased sense of well being. The project made a
significant contribution to creating healthier communities and
delivering on targets in a number of local strategies and
partnerships.
The project commenced in July 2003, funded by the Countryside
Agency (now Natural England) until July 2006. Since then funding
had come from savings found within the departmental budget. Periods
of vacancy management following the resignation of the co-ordinator
had contributed to these savings but at a cost to the service. The
Cabinet Member, on 9 July 2007 (minute 12 refers), approved
continuation of the project until 31 March 2008.
The project had had three co-ordinators during the past two
years. It was felt that to continue the success of the project,
funding for the co-ordinator post should be permanently secured.
This would help to recruit a high quality candidate who could
expect a degree of surety in the position. It should stop the high
turnover experienced with the post. This would also be a
demonstration to partners that the council was committed to
supporting the project and developing it further.
Resolved - (a) That the creation of a permanent
post of Health Walks Co-ordinator (part time) be supported, and (b)
that the report be submitted to the Corporate Services Cabinet
Member for approval.
31 (31) SMOKEFREE ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES
– The Service Director Neighbourhood and Environment
submitted a report providing information about the progress of
implementation of the new smoke free legislation.
Before the new smoke free legislation came into force, over 40
officers in Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing
were trained in the new legislation. The Environmental Health Team
visited approximately 1,000 premises throughout North Lincolnshire
and businesses were issued with advice, literature and free
signage.
The report summarised compliance rates, actions that had been
taken since the legislation was implemented, and the results of a
questionnaire sent to all licensed premises.
The Food and Safety Team provided a focus for the enforcement,
which was currently co-ordinated by the Smokefree Officer. On
expiry of the post at the end of the funded contract period, the
responsibility would fall to Environmental Health Officers in the
Food and Safety Team as an additional regulatory function.
Resolved - That the responsibilities for
enforcing the appropriate legislation be incorporated into existing
resources within Communities and Environment.
Note: Reports are in Portable Document
Format (PDF) and therefore require a suitable reader to
view them. A reader can be downloaded free from the Adobe
website (full instructions for downloading the reader are
provided on the site).
