Agenda and minutes

Venue: Room 67, County Hall, Carmarthen

Contact: Mrs Michelle Evans Thomas  01267 224470

Items
No. Item

1.

DECLARATIONS OF PERSONAL INTERESTS.

Minutes:

No declarations of personal interest were made at the meeting.

2.

SAFETY AT SPORTS GROUNDS.

Minutes:

The Executive Board Member was advised that, following the disaster at the Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow in January 1972 and the subsequent public enquiry, the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 introduced a system of safety certification of sports grounds by Local Authorities.  The Local Authority was required to determine the safe capacity of the ground, to prescribe and enforce such terms and conditions as it considers necessary or expedient to secure the reasonable safety of spectators and to undertake a periodical inspection.

 

The Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 defines a sports ground as:-

 

“A place where sport or other competitive activities takes place in the open air, and where accommodation has been provided for spectators, consisting of artificial structures or of natural structures artificially modified for the purpose.”

 

There were many other pieces of legislation which would be applicable to sports grounds depending on the type of ground and activity.  Additionally, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport had produced a “Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds” (also known as the “Green Guide”) which was an advisory document for use by competent persons.  The management of such grounds had a primary responsibility for the safety of spectators and should therefore apply the recommendations in the Guide in order to achieve safe conditions.

 

In paragraph 31 of the Final Reports of his enquiry into the Hillsborough Stadium Disaster, the Lord Justice Taylor recommended that:-

 

“To assist the Local Authority in exercising its functions, it should set up an Advisory Group consisting of appropriate members of its own staff, representatives of the police, fire and ambulance services and of the building authority.  The Advisory Group should consult representatives of the club on a regular basis.  The Advisory Group’s terms of reference should encompass all matters concerned with crowd safety and should require regular visits to the ground and attendance at matches. The Advisory Group should have a chairman from the Local Authority and effective procedures.  Its resolution should be recorded and it should be required to produce regular reports for consideration by the Local Authority.”

 

Carmarthenshire’s Safety Advisory Group had been established for a number of years and was currently chaired by the Environmental Health and Licensing Manager.  There were terms of reference as recommended and regular meetings were held with the relevant clubs.

 

The Local Authority had a statutory obligation under:-

 

-         the Safety at Sports Grounds Act 1975 (as amended) to issue General and Special Safety Certificates for designated sports grounds (for those over 10,000 capacity) – which included Parc y Scarlets and Ffos Las;

-         the Fire Safety and Places of Sport Act 1987 Part III to issue a safety certificate for Regulated Stands (where a covered stand provided covered accommodation for 500 or more) – which included Richmond Terrace, Carmarthen.

 

The Local Authority would signpost non designated sport grounds to the Green Guide as a reference to management requirements.

 

RESOLVED that the report be received.

3.

SERVICE DELIVERY PLAN - ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND LICENSING. pdf icon PDF 237 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Public Health Services Section is required by the Food Standards Agency and the Health & Safety Executive to produce an annual Service Delivery Plan.

 

The Plan provided an outline of the Council’s service aims and objectives including links to the corporative objectives and plans.  A brief description of the Council was included, defining its infrastructure, economy and organisation structure.  The Plan also detailed the scope and demands of the Public Health Services Section.

 

The Plan was divided into sections which provided details of specific areas of each of the services and workplans for the coming year.  This provided an opportunity to highlight where there were weaknesses and strengths within the relevant teams.  Specific areas were highlighted as being at risk and those which the Section was n o longer able to provide because of the limited resources.  A breakdown of resources was provided, including staffing costs, administration, supplies and services, training etc. with comparisons between financial years.  The final section contained information and details of quality assessments and illustrated the various ways that the Section ensured consistency, efficiency and competency.

 

RESOLVED that the Environmental Health and Licensing Service Delivery Plan for 2015/16 be approved.

4.

DECISION RECORD pdf icon PDF 300 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the decision record of the meeting of the Executive Board Member for Environmental and Public Protection held on the 22nd July, 2014 be signed as a correct record.

 

 

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