Welsh councils are struggling to transform environmental health services in the face of spending cuts, according to a new report.
The report, published by the Auditor General for Wales, warned that environmental health services are under growing pressure and have reached a tipping point. It says that councils must radically transform the way services are delivered if they are to meet their legal responsibilities and protect public health.
Delivering with less – the Impact on Environmental Health Services and Citizens found that council spending on environmental health is not being protected from austerity measures. Staff numbers in this sector have reduced by 16.4%, and overall budgets have been cut by 4.2%.
The Auditor General for Wales, Huw Vaughan-Thomas, said: ‘Incremental and reactive spending cuts mean that environmental health services are under growing pressure and at risk of becoming unsustainable.
‘Councils need to find more efficient and effective ways of working if they are to continue to provide these important services to the Welsh public and meet their current and future environmental health responsibilities.’
The report calls for councils to explore the potential for outsourcing and charging for services, and for the expectations of environmental health services to be clearly set out.
