Day 132 - 07 Jun 95 - Page 23


     
     1        city of just over a million population.  I cannot comment
     2        on how many premises.  There was maybe, I do not know,
     3        300,000 dwelling houses.  I would not have the figures.
     4
     5   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  If you cannot give a figure do not start
     6        guessing.
     7
     8   MR. MORRIS:  Environmental Health Officers are responsible for
     9        all premises, not just commercial premises?
    10        A.  Well, they administer the law that applies to various
    11        premises in various types, so with houses it is housing law
    12        obviously.  Yes, indeed, they deal with commercial premises
    13        and so on.  They do not deal with what you might very
    14        loosely call factories because that is administered by the
    15        Health and Safety Executive; neither do they deal with some
    16        specific pollution problems which are dealt with by the
    17        Pollution Inspectorate which once was called the alkalide
    18        inspectorate.
    19
    20   Q.   So of those 60, when you were working for them, what was
    21        your specific brief?
    22        A.  Well, I was a pupil originally.  I was a pupil for five
    23        years, and then for a further 12 months I had a small patch
    24        of the city where I covered a whole range of functions as
    25        an Environmental Health Officer -- as then a Public Health
    26        Inspector.
    27
    28   Q.   Is that how it is still done?  It is done in a geographical
    29        basis or is it some people concentrate on, you know,
    30        catering establishments and some concentrate on houses?
    31        A.  It depends on the way it is organised.  Some have a
    32        multi-disciplinary approach and you deal with everything on
    33        a patch.  Other authorities specialise and you will have
    34        somebody specialising typically in food, hygiene and safety
    35        or in housing or whatever it may be.  So it depends on the
    36        perceived needs of the company.
    37
    38   Q.   So they have a wide range of responsibilities?
    39        A.  Indeed, very much so.
    40
    41   Q.   So, effectively, the amount of time and staff for
    42        specifically monitoring catering establishments would be
    43        quite small?
    44        A.  Yes.
    45
    46   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Presumably, it depends also upon -- is there
    47        a Chief Environmental Health Officer for most local
    48        authorities, just as a Chief Probation Officer?
    49        A.  Yes, my Lord.
    50 
    51   Q.   Or civil engineer and so on? 
    52        A.  He would organise his department as he sees fit. 
    53
    54   Q.   It occurs to me that one chief Environmental Health Officer
    55        might say:  "Let us have a look at big chains, be they
    56        supermarkets or fast-food outlets", or whatever, and
    57        another might say:  "We will do a specimen look at one of
    58        those once a year and we will concentrate on some of these
    59        small back street outlets which we think in our area may be
    60        a problem", and so on?

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