Enforcement & Prosecution Policy
Summary of enforcement and prosecution policy
The aim of the Environmental Services team at Salford City Council is to protect and promote a fair, safe and healthy environment for the benefit of the whole community, business and resident alike.
The council’s regulatory functions are extensive, dealing with matters such as abandoned vehicles, animal health and welfare, occupational health and safety, pollution control, drainage, public health nuisances, food safety/hygiene and compositional standards, disease control, consumer safety, fair trading, and weights and measures.
This page summarises the general principles which the council will follow in relation to enforcement and prosecution.
Principles of enforcement
The council believes in firm but fair regulations. Underlying this are the principles of: proportionality in the application of the law and in securing compliance, consistency of approach, transparency in how the council operates and what those who are regulated can expect from us and targeting of enforcement action.
Proportionality
The enforcement action taken by the council will be proportionate to the risks posed and the seriousness of the breach. As far as the law allows, we will take into account the circumstances of the case and the attitude of the individual when considering what action to take.
Consistency
We aim to carry out our duties in a fair, equitable and consistent manner. Officers will however need to exercise their professional judgement and discretion accordingly to the circumstances of each individual case.
Arrangements are in place to promote consistency in the enforcement and interpretation of legislation through liaison with other local authorities.
We have regard to statutory codes of practice and advice given by coordinating bodies and central Government.
Transparency
This means helping those who are regulated and others, to understand what is expected of them and what they should expect from us. It also means making clear why an officer intends to or has taken enforcement action and what rights of appeal are available.
Targeting
Targeting means making sure that regulatory effort is directed primarily towards those whose activities are likely to give rise to the most serious breaches of legislation.
We have systems for prioritising regulatory effort and they include:
- Responding to complaints from the community about regulated activities
- The inspection of premises according to the risk posed
- The gathering and acting on intelligence about illegal activities
Human rights
In carrying out its duties the council will respect the rights and freedoms guaranteed to individuals under the Human Rights Act 1998.
Prosecution
The council has regard to the Code for Crown Prosecutors in deciding whether to prosecute.
A prosecution will only be brought if:
- There is enough evidence to provide a realistic prospect of a conviction against the individual concerned; and
- A prosecution would be in the public interest
How to get the full document
Download the document below or you may request a hard copy of the full policy by emailing ron.pennington@salford.gov.uk.
Downloadable documents
If you are unable to view documents of these types, our downloads page provides links to viewing software.
This page was last updated on 04 July 2008
Bookmark this page using:
Find out more about social bookmarking.
These sites allow you to store, tag and share links across the internet. You can share these links both with friends and people with similar interests. You can also access your links from any computer you happen to be using.
If you come across a page on our site that you find interesting and want to save for future reference or share it with other people, simply click on one of these links to add to your list.
All of these sites are free to use but do require you to register. Once you have registered you can begin bookmarking. Each of the sites works slightly differently so use the links below to find out which service best suits your needs.
Find out more about social bookmarking at Wikipedia.
