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Legal, Pub.Protection& Housing

Legal, Public Protection and Housing Services

Director, Peter H Evans

The Directorate covers the following work areas:

Legal Services

To ensure that when instructed the Council acts in accordance with the law by providing cost effective, timely and accurate legal advice to Members and officers to support their decision making on Council matters
To ensure effective representation for the Council in legal proceedings
The department is currently divided into discrete teams who each have areas of specialism and work is allocated according to the individual requirements of each instruction and following consideration of staff's skills and capacity. It should be noted however that this structure is likely to change following the conclusion of the Legal Services Improvement Review.

The discrete teams currently in place pending any changes following the Review are as follows:

Community Services Team: Responsible for all child care proceedings, adoption work, mental health issues and adult Social Services matters. The team also undertakes the advocacy at court for such matters.

Property and Contracts Team: Responsible for all property advice for the Council, legal advice on corporate project work, advice upon contractual and procurement issues and compulsory purchase work.

Litigation Team: Responsible for all criminal prosecutions and civil proceedings brought by and against the Council (unless falling within the remit of an insurance claim)

Law Clerks' Team: Responsible for a variety of matters including right to buys and basic conveyancing matters, standard form contract work, various highway orders and advice and drafting various agreements

Legal Administration Team: Responsible for delivering administrative support to the Legal Department, including the provision of word processing, faxing, photocopying, library updates, telephone cover and stationary requirements.

Democratic Services

The main service aims of Democratic Services are to:

Maintain and develop the Council's decision-making processes, facilitating accountability and transparency
Support elected members;
Provide front-line and administrative support services;
Provide and develop a Registration Service capable of meeting the increased demands arising from the National Civil Registration Review.

Our service objectives are:

To ensure that decision-making is transparent and accessible.
To enable people who have the right to do so to vote in local, regional and national elections.
To provide a comprehensive Registration Service, encompassing births, deaths and marriages and ceremonies, in line with customer and statutory requirements.
To deal with complaints effectively.
To provide responsive and customer-focussed communication to the public and support to elected members and officers.

Our customers include:

The general public, elected members and external representatives, Chief Officers and all Directorates of the Council. We also work with the 26 Town and Community Councils and the Voluntary Sector.

The Division comprises the following specific service areas (not an exhaustive list of services provided):

Democratic Services
Management of the Council's committee system & decision-making process.
Development, monitoring, and implementation of the Council's response to the Government's Modernising - Local Government agenda.
Advice re Council's Constitution
Scrutiny support
Support for elected members
Membership of outside bodies
Production of Council Year Book
Education Appeals
Tenders

Support Services

Provision of frontline services in respect of the Council's main reception area and switchboard.
Provision of a printing / photocopying service to all Directorates
Provision of internal / external mail distribution service
Provision of corporate administrative support to all Directorates

Maintenance and development of a Modern Records/Terrier Service.

Maintenance and conducting of searches of the Local Land Charges Registers.

Electoral Registration / Members Services
Provision and maintenance of electoral registration service
Support for elected members (including typing support)
Ombudsman complaints

Registration Service

Provision of a Registration Service in respect of all births, deaths & marriages within the Vale of Glamorgan.
Provision of statutory / non-statutory services (including commitment ceremonies / reaffirmation of vows / baby-naming)

Regulatory Services

Regulatory Services' aim is to enhance and protect the health, safety, economic welfare and environment for the benefit of residents, businesses and other stakeholders in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Our service objectives are:

To be customer focused, accessible and responsive to the needs of the community.
To improve the environment through monitoring and regulating air and water quality, noise and contaminated land.
To protect the health and safety of the community by ensuring businesses meet legislative requirements, controlling infectious disease, encouraging responsible dog ownership, controlling pests and regulating animal health and welfare.
To maintain a fair and equitable trading environment.

To achieve these objectives a combination of strategies are used to control, reduce and wherever possible eliminate risks including:

Effective enforcement of legislation
Appropriate education and advice
Responding to customer requests for service
Using intelligence information to inform service delivery priorities
Working with other organisations

Regulatory Services staff work within one of seven functional teams. These are:-

Food Safety, Health & Safety Enforcement, Pest Control, Control of Dogs, Pollution, Trading Standards and Licensing.

1. Food Safety Team: inspect some 1,100 food premises to ensure food is being prepared hygienically (risk based approach); investigate complaints about food and food premises; investigate incidents of food poisoning and other infectious diseases to prevent their spread in the community; sample food to ensure it meets food safety and labeling requirements; advise food businesses and train food handlers; sample animal feedstuffs to ensure they meet legislative requirements; provide a public health and vermin control service for vessels entering the Port of Barry; take local action in response to Food Hazards Warnings; take enforcement action as necessary to secure compliance.

2. Health & Safety Enforcement Team: inspect workplaces where the Vale of Glamorgan is the enforcing authority to ensure compliance with Health & Safety legislation; investigate serious workplace accidents and fatalities; investigate complaints about workplace health safety and welfare; provide advice to businesses; ensure the safety of licensed premises; take enforcement action as necessary to secure compliance.

3. Pest Control Team: provide a pest control treatment and advice service; undertake sewer baiting to control rat populations.

4. Control of Dogs Team: investigate reports of stray dogs and impound them where ownership cannot be determined; take enforcement action as necessary to deal with Dangerous Dogs; encourage responsible dog ownership through a programme of education.

5. Pollution Team: monitor air quality and take action to ensure air quality in the Vale meets the objectives set out in The Air Quality (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2002; investigate customer complaints about air pollution / odour; monitor drinking and recreational water quality; investigate complaints about noise to determine statutory nuisance and take abatement action; consider the environmental impact of planning applications; identify contaminated land and take enforcement action as necessary to require remediation; authorise industrial installations and ensure they meet emissions limits set out in Secretary of State Guidance; act as consultees to the Environment Agency in their authorisation of large industrial plants.

6. Trading Standards Team: inspect traders to ensure a safe and fair trading environment; provide consumer advice; ensure good animal health and welfare standards to prevent, control and eradicate animal diseases; adopt and update contingency plans for Rabies, Foot & Mouth and Anthrax ; provide consumer and business education; support the 'Home Authority' principle; provide verification and testing services for weighing and measuring equipment; take enforcement action as necessary to secure compliance.

7. Licensing Team: licence premises and individuals by maintaining effective administrative systems, consulting stakeholders, inspecting premises/activities and taking enforcement action as necessary to secure compliance; develop and continually review Licensing Policy and adopt the new licensing regime required by the new Licensing Bill

Civil Protection Service

Provide Local Authority support for the Civil Protection Services.
Coordinate the Voluntary Agencies to mitigate the effects of the incident.
Develop plans/arrangements to coordinate the Local Authority response to an incident, and mitigate the effects on the wider community.
Oversee the development of service area (Social Services, Highways, Leisure etc.) emergency response plans.
Organise and participate in exercises.
Provide emergency training sessions to Local Authority Staff, Council Members and Voluntary Agencies.
Offer personal/professional development training opportunities (Courses, Seminars, Conferences).
Develop advice and guidance leaflets on emergency preparedness and associated topics for the wider community.
Contribute to the safe planning of events held in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Coroner's Service

Investigate violent or unnatural death
Investigate sudden death for which the cause is unknown
Investigate deaths in prison or in such place or in such circumstances as to require an inquest under any other Act
Inquire into Treasure finds within the jurisdiction of Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan
Provide advice and guidance to Members of the Public, Police Forces (nationwide) and associated agencies