ENVIRONMENTAL health services in Blaenau Gwent are at “tipping point” because of budget cuts, a report to a council committee has found. A report on the impact of thelocal government budget cuts on Blaenau Gwent Council’s environmental health services was discussed bysubmitted to the council’s environment, economy and infrastructure scrutiny committee on Thursday.

The Delivering with Less report, from the Wales Audit Office, said Blaenau Gwent Council is “mostly meeting” its statutory environmental health obligations.

But the report continued: “Because of budget and staff cuts, environmental health services are at a tipping point and are at risk of being unable to effectively deliver their current responsibilities or take on new statutory duties.”

The report is the first of many planned “Delivering with Less” studies by the Wales Audit Office, which wants to see how councils are responding to the cuts in Welsh Government funding for councils. The local government shortfall is expected to reach £460million by the end of 2016.

Environmental health services cover a range of issues including food safety, pest control, dog fouling, and noise pollution,. The council’s responsibilities include assessing the quality of homes and safety of workplaces, checking food hygiene, the reduction of air pollution and dealing with problems arising from noise.

The report found Blaenau Gwent Council is delivering most of its environmental health services at the highest levels, despite having to make large cuts in environmental health budgets and staff numbers between 2011- and 2014. Some 38.6 per cent of the council’s environmental health areas are delivering services to a “good standard” compared to a Welsh average of 30 per cent.

But because of the cuts, The council has reduced expenditure on environmental health services by 10.5 per cent in the last three financial years, twice the Welsh average for all councils.

The audit officeIt has concerns the council will be unable to cope when tasked with new duties following recent legislation, for example the Food Hygiene Rating (Wales) Act 2013 which created new mandatory duties for council environmental health services.

The Audit Office report suggested six recommendations including better consultation with local residents over budget cuts and providing committee members with more support in challenging savings plans.The cOn Thursday, April 23, the Environment, Economy and Infrastructure Scrutiny Committee discussed and accepted the report and agreed to take on board the report's findings and recommendations.