Our Public Realm Enforcement team is committed to providing you with an efficient, courteous, and helpful service. This page tells you how we aim to do that and what standards you can expect to receive.
We deliver regulatory services in several areas, including:
- abandoned vehicles
- dog control
- domestic and trade duty of care
- flytipping
- illegal advertising
- illegal camping
- littering
- punt touting
- stray and lost dogs
How we deliver our services
We make a fundamental contribution to the maintenance and improvement of public realm, quality of life and wellbeing. Our aims are to:
- protect the public, businesses, and the environment from harm
- support the local economy to grow and prosper
- reduce environmental antisocial behaviour
We determine our activities by assessing the needs of local residents and visitors and the business community, and considering the risks that require addressing. We do this through education, engagement, and enforcement and through using data and other information available to us and our partners. In this way we ensure our resources are targeted appropriately, in the light of these local needs and of national priorities.
We conduct all our activities in a way that supports those we regulate to comply and grow.
- We ensure that information, guidance, and advice are available to help you to meet legal requirements. Read ‘helping you to get it right’ below.
- We conduct inspections and other activities to check compliance with legal requirements, and we target these checks where we believe they are most needed utilising local intelligence. Read ‘inspections and other compliance visits’ below.
- We deal proportionately with breaches of the law as set out in our Enforcement Policy, including taking firm enforcement action when necessary. Read ‘responding to non-compliance’ below.
- We provide a range of services to residents, visitors, and businesses – read ‘requests for our service’ below. Our services will be delivered in accordance with the requirements of the national Regulators’ Code.
Working with you
In all your dealings with us you can expect, and will receive, efficient and professional service. Our officers will:
- be courteous and polite
- always identify themselves by name in dealings with you, and provide you with contact details
- seek to gain an understanding of how your business operates (if applicable) and/or any personal mitigating circumstances
- provide details of how to discuss any concerns you may have with the service received
- agree with timescales, expectations, and preferred methods of communication with you
- ensure that you are kept informed of progress on any outstanding issues
We recognise that businesses, visitors and residents will receive advice and inspections from other organisations, and we will do our best to work with them to ensure that you receive the best service.
Helping you to get it right
We want to work with you to help you to be compliant and successful, whether as a business, individual or household, and it is important to us that you feel able to come to us for advice when you need it. We will not take enforcement action just because you tell us that you have a problem.
Where you need advice that is tailored to your particular needs and circumstances we will:
- discuss with you what is required to achieve compliance
- provide advice that supports compliance and that can be relied on
- provide clear advice that can be easily understood and implemented
- distinguish legal requirements from suggested good practice
- ensure that any verbal advice you receive is confirmed in writing if requested
- acknowledge good practice and compliance
Fines and charges
We apply charges for statutory duties that our team undertakes. We review the charges every year. The statutory charges currently levied through the Public Realm Enforcement team are:
- charges to the owners of stray dogs that are collected by the team. Read lost and stray dogs for full details of the fees, including statutory charges
- statutory charges for abandoned vehicles, which apply to registered keepers wanting to claim their vehicles. Details of the statutory charges for abandoned vehicles are detailed in The Removal, Storage and Disposal of Vehicles (Prescribed Sums and Charges) Regulations 2008
- fixed penalty notices, which we can issue to individuals or businesses as an alternative to prosecution, and which do not have a statutory right of appeal. We operate a zero-tolerance approach when it comes to environmental crime. Read fixed penalty notices for details of how to make a payment and find out more. We review fixed penalty notices in accordance with legislative changes.
Inspections and other compliance visits
We monitor and support regulatory compliance in several different ways including through inspections, advisory visits, and complaint investigations. These visits will always be based on an assessment of risk – we won’t visit without a reason.
When we visit you, our officers will:
- explain the reason and purpose of the visit
- carry their identification card at all times, and present it on request when visiting your premises
- exercise discretion in front of your customers and staff
- have regard to your approach to compliance, and use this information to inform future interactions with you
- provide information, guidance, and advice to support you in meeting your statutory obligations, if required
- ensure that any verbal advice you receive is confirmed in writing if requested
Responding to non-compliance
Where we identify any failure to meet legal obligations, we will respond proportionately, taking account of the circumstances, in line with our enforcement policy.
We will deal proportionately with breaches of the law as set out in the policy, including taking firm enforcement action when necessary.
Where we require you to take action to remedy any failings, we will:
- explain the nature of the non-compliance
- discuss what is required to achieve compliance, taking into account your circumstances
- clearly explain any advice, actions required or decisions that we have taken
- agree timescales that are acceptable to both you and us, in relation to any actions required
- provide in writing details of statutory rights to appeal
- explain what will happen next
- keep in touch with you, where required, until the matter is resolved
Requests for our services
In responding to requests for our services, including requests for advice and complaints about breaches of the law, we will:
- acknowledge your request within seven working days
- tell you when you can expect a substantive response
- seek to fully understand the nature of your request
- explain what we may or may not be able to do, so that you know what to expect
- keep you informed of progress throughout our involvement
- inform you of the outcome as appropriate
Our team
We have a dedicated team of officers who have the appropriate qualifications, skills, and experience to deliver the services provided. We have arrangements in place to ensure the ongoing professional competency of all officers.
Where specialist knowledge is required in an area outside of our expertise we will call on neighbouring authorities and other regulatory organisations, for additional support, as necessary.
Working with others
We work closely with other regulatory services including:
- Cambridgeshire County Council
- Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue
- Cambridgeshire Police
- Conservators of the River Cam
- Environment Agency
This enables us to deliver a more ‘joined up’ and streamlined service.
Having your say
Complaints and appeals
Where we take enforcement action, there is often a statutory right to appeal. We will always tell you about this at the appropriate time.
We are always willing to discuss with you the reasons why we have acted in a particular way or asked you to act in a particular way.
We manage complaints about our service, or about the conduct of our officers, through our Corporate Complaints Policy. Read compliments, complaints and suggestions to find out more.
Feedback
We value your input to help us ensure our service is meeting your needs. We would like to hear from you whether your experience of us has been good or in need of improvement.
This helps us to ensure we keep doing the right things and make changes where we need to.
We use customer satisfaction surveys from time to time, but we would welcome your feedback at any time. Contact us if you want to share any feedback.
Contacting us
We will seek to work with you in the most appropriate way to meet your individual needs. We can make information available in different formats and have access to translation and interpretation services.
If you contact us, we will ask you for your name and contact details to enable us to keep in touch with you as the matter progresses.
We treat all contact with the service in confidence unless you have given us permission to share your details with others as part of the matter or there is an operational reason we need to do so.
We manage personal data in accordance with the details set out on our data protection webpage.
