Our Environmental Health team works to protect your safety and wellbeing by safeguarding the air you breathe, the food you eat, the water you drink, and the places you live and work.
Our Public Health officers enforce health and hygiene laws and investigate issues including pollution, noise, pest infestation, and food poisoning outbreaks.
This small, dedicated team consists of 15 officers with more than 260 years of Environmental Health experience between them. They handle a range of issues across South Staffordshire, from serious and distressing cases to unusual ones. At the same time, they work to raise standards across all sectors.
Team manager Lee Jamieson said:
“We are part of a great team working to improve public health standards across South Staffordshire. We collaborate with different council teams and partners from other organisations.
Fellow environmental health team manager Laura Nichols added:
“It can be challenging, but it’s always satisfying to help someone or see improvements in business compliance that helps protect public health.
Environmental protection
The team monitors air, water, land, and noise pollution, and investigates incidents. Air quality across South Staffordshire is generally very good.
Some properties and businesses use non-mains water supplies, which we regularly assess and sample. Issues are rare, but when they arise, we support owners to improve water quality.
Officers also review environmental aspects of new planning applications and handled 1,200 service requests in 2024.
Health and safety
The team advises on safe operation of sports and leisure events, campaigns on issues such as sunbed dangers, visits workplaces to check safety, and investigates accidents and work-related illness.
Food safety
The Food and Safety team advises on and enforces food law, maintaining strong relationships with businesses.
To prevent serious foodborne illness and protect consumers with allergies, our team inspects around 800 food businesses in South Staffordshire. These range from corner cafes to five-star hotels, schools, and hospitals.
Hygiene ratings show how well our food businesses manage food safety - last year 94% of the premises we inspected were compliant (rated 3-5).
Housing
Good housing is vital to health. Public Health Officers ensure standards are met, addressing issues such as overcrowding, damp, mould, and broken windows.
Work includes inspecting rented homes, supporting the vulnerable, liaising with housing associations, and visiting shared properties.
South Staffordshire also has a higher-than-average number of households in mobile homes. We licence nearly 1,400 mobile homes across South Staffordshire and ensure park conditions, especially fire safety, are maintained.
Events
We are fortunate to have many varied events across the district. We work with event organisers and partners including the police and fire services to ensure safe, successful events. Last year, more than 1,000 people attended events across the district.
Licensing
Our team processes various licences, from event venues and pubs, to individuals responsible for serving alcohol, gambling, and charity collections.
We are supported by Wolverhampton City Council which administers taxi and driver licences, while we set out the policy for ensuring appropriate checks are made on vehicles and drivers for passenger safety.
Public health licensing
The team licences and inspects the growing number of premises undertaking cosmetic treatments, particularly those involving skin piercing, such as tattooing and micro blading.
Animal welfare licensing
Our team safeguards public health and animal welfare by licensing dog and cat boarding facilities, pet shops, horse riding establishments, and zoos. We even license businesses that offer alpaca experiences, with more than 150 such establishments in South Staffordshire.