Environmental Health Service Charter Introduction The aim of this charter is to tell you about the wide range of services which Camden s Environmental Health team provides. In particular, it will explain: What services we provide Our standards and how we are performing against them How you can help us What you can do if you are unhappy with our service How to contact us Useful contacts Our services Our main services are: Noise Housing - Privately Rented or Owned Pollution Sustainable Development Pest Control Stray Dog Service
Noise: Investigating complaints and giving advice about domestic and commercial noise, including: Noisy neighbours Loud music/parties/pubs and nightclubs Noisy kitchen extracts, machinery and air conditioning units Building and construction sites Barking dogs Burglar and car alarms Noisy deliveries Roadworks We also have a Weekend Noise Service, which deals with noise complaints on Friday and Saturday nights, from 10.00 p.m. to 4.00a.m. We cannot help with: Noisy behaviour in the street/public places. If this is outside a licensed premises, our Licensing Team may be able to help. If the behaviour is threatening or violent you should report it to the Police, Camden Control Room. Please see pages 9 and 10 for contact details. Traffic or aircraft noise. You can obtain further information on aircraft noise from the Civil Aviation authority. Please see page 9 for contact details. Noise due to poor sound insulation between dwellings. However, we may be able to deal with noise from commercial activities caused by poor sound insulation. We have no legal powers to deal with certain types of noise, including those highlighted above. For further information about noise problems, please see our website. This tells you what steps you can take if you are bothered by noise, what we will do to investigate a noise complaint, and more about areas where we have no powers to help. You can also find a copy of our Noise Strategy on our website, which shows our policy and procedures for dealing with different types of noise. Housing - Privately Rented or Owned Complaints from tenants about poor conditions in private rented homes Improving fire safety, kitchens, bathrooms and other facilities in houses in multiple occupation Rubbish on private land causing a health hazard Drainage 2
Filthy and infested premises Providing grants to help improve homes. Contact us to find out more about the range of grants available and to see if you are eligible. We cannot help with: Complaints from council tenants about their homes. Please contact your District Housing Office Complaints concerning the general appearance and decoration of homes Pollution Investigating complaints and giving advice on a wide range of pollution issues, including: o Smoke from bonfires o Dust and grit from building sites o Air polluting industries o Odours from restaurants o Contaminated Land o Monitoring outdoor Air Quality Playing a lead role in initiatives to improve our environment. Sustainable Development Providing general advice to the public, local businesses and organisations on a wide range of environmental issues including: o Sustainability: working to reduce the impact of the Council s activities on our environment and encouraging employers and residents to do likewise o Climate change and domestic energy efficiency o Camden s Green Fair o Fairtrade: ensuring farmers in poorer countries get a fair price for their goods sold in the Borough 3
Pest Control Treating and giving advice to residents, landlords and businesses on a wide range of pests. This includes: o Rats (indoors and outdoors) o Mice (indoors) o Cockroaches o Pharaoh ants o Fleas o Bedbugs o Wasps. We cannot help with: Treating other animals such as foxes, pigeons and squirrels. We can still give you advice on these however. Our target response times When you contact us, we aim to visit your home within the following times Rats (indoors): Rats (outside) and mice indoors: Cockroaches, fleas, pharaoh ants and bedbugs: Wasps: Same day 3 days 5 days 5 days Charges Charges will apply for most of our pest control services. Before we start the treatment, we will say what our charge will be. Please contact us for details of our charges. If you are a council tenant, we will not charge you for treating rats, mice, cockroaches, pharaoh ants, fleas, bedbugs and wasps. We will charge, however, for treating other pests, such as beetles and clothes moths. We can also treat some insects that are not a major health threat such as garden ants and beetles. We will charge you for this service, regardless of circumstances. 4
Stray Dog Service Collecting any stray dog you may have caught or have confined in a secure area We cannot help with: Complaints about dog fouling. Contact Street Environment Services if on the highway, or the Parks & Open Spaces Hotline if in Camden parks. Please see page 9 for contact details. Collecting any other stray animals The service you can expect from us When you contact us, we aim to: Answer your telephone calls within 5 rings. Contact you within 5 working days when you first request one of our services Reply to general correspondence such as letters, e-mails and faxes within 10 working days Deal with cases that we feel are urgent, such as pollution from bonfires, dust from building sites and noise from car and burglar alarms, within 3 hours. We offer this service Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Respond to at least 75% of Weekend Noise complaints on the same night. Keep you informed about the progress of your case Make appointments to suit you, whenever possible The table below shows how we have performed against our standards over the last three years: Target 2004/5 2005/6 2006/7 % of letters responded to within 10 working days 95% 90% 83% 87% % of phones answered within 5 rings 90% 90% 83% 79% % of service requests responded to 100% within 5* working days 86% 73% 78% % of urgent cases responded to within 3 hours 100% 81% 67% 64% % of Weekend Noise service requests responded to on same night 75%** 68% 66% 65% * the standard up to 31 March 2005 was to reply to 100% of cases in 8 working days ** target was 70% before 2005/6 We were pleased that performance improved in some areas in 2006/7, although we recognise we still did not meet our targets. We were disappointed that performance dipped in other areas. This was largely due to staffing changes. However, we put a number of measures into place to improve this, including monitoring the quality of our letters and e-mails. We will be monitoring the situation closely to make sure our performance improves. 5
Customer feedback. What you think of our service is very important to us. Here is a summary of some key aspects of satisfaction levels. We have put a number of measures in place to improve these, including keeping customers informed. We hope this will lead to improvements in our service. % of service users satisfied with the way they were kept informed of progress % of service users satisfied with the overall service Target 2004/5 2005/6 2006/7 85% 62% 62% 57% 85% 68% 66% 65% For the most up to date information about our performance, please visit our website, www.camden.gov.uk How you can help us To help us to meet our standards and to deliver the best possible service to you, please: Give your name, address, and if you have them, your telephone number and e-mail address when you ask for one of our services. We cannot deal with anonymous requests Provide the address/location of the problem Please note that when we call, our number is not displayed. This means that if you have set your telephone to not receive number withheld calls, our call will not get through, unless you unblock this. We will ask you your ethnic origin. We do this so we can monitor who uses our services to see if our services are accessible to everyone Please keep any appointment we make with you Let us know if the problem stops 6
What if things go wrong? How do I complain? We aim to get things right first time, but sometimes things go wrong. If you are not satisfied with the service you receive, please phone or write to our service manager. For details of how to contact them, please go to page 7. If you are still not satisfied, we have a formal complaints procedure. For details, please contact: The Complaints Liaison Officer Quality and Performance Team Environment Department London Borough of Camden Town Hall Argyle Street London WC1H 8EQ Telephone: 020 7974 6937 Fax: 020 7974 6439 E-mail: qualityteam.environment@camden.gov.uk When are our services available? Environmental Health: Monday to Friday, 9 a.m to 5 p.m. Pest Control and Stray Dog Service: Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m How to contact us Write to us: Environmental Health Team London Borough of Camden Town Hall Argyle Street London WC1H 8EQ Visit us: Environment Reception, 5 th Floor, Camden Town Hall, Argyle Street Phone: Environmental Health: Pest Control: Stray Dog Service Weekend Noise Service 020 7974 2090 020 7974 5976 020 7974 5976 020 7278 4444 7
Fax: Environmental Health: 020 7974 6955 Pest Control 020 7974 6955 Stray Dog Service 020 7974 6955 E-mail: planning@camden.gov.uk Internet: www.camden.gov.uk Minicom 020 7974 6447 (at Environment reception) If you would like any more information about our services, please contact one of our officers or visit our website. We welcome any comments or suggestions for improvement you may have about our services or about the information in this charter. 8
Useful Contacts Other Council services Street Environment Services: For collection of household waste and recycling, and removal of litter/rubbish, dog fouling on the highway, graffiti, flyposting and abandoned vehicles from the streets. Tel: 020-7974 6914 Email: street.environment@camden.gov.uk Parking Solutions: Tel: 0207 974 4646 (Parking Solutions enforcement team) E- mail:parking.solutions@camden.gov.uk Planning: Tel: 020-7974 1911 (Duty planner service) E- mail: planning@camden.gov.uk Licensing: Tel: 020 7974 6797 E-mail: licensing.safety@camden.gov.uk Parks and Open Spaces: For queries about dog fouling & nuisance in Camden parks and other queries concerning parks: Tel: 020 7974 1693 Our website, www.camden.gov.uk, contains a wide range of information about other council services. You can also use our website to access CINDEX. This is a database which has details of over 6,000 organisations in Camden, including council services. In addition, Camden produces a booklet, A to Z of council services which gives you more information about different areas of the council. This is sent to all households but if you would like a copy of this booklet, please telephone 020 7974 5717. Other agencies: Civil Aviation Authority For information about aircraft noise. Tel: 020 7453 6524/5 Write to: Consultation Secretary Directorate of Airspace Policy CAA House K6 45-59 Kingsway London WC2B 6TE 9
Vehicle & Operator Services Agency (VOSA) For information about environmental standards on the roads, including smoky vehicles. Tel: 0870 6060440 Camden Police Control Room (Kentish town ) Tel: 020 7404 1212 December 2007 10