Author: Peacock Carter

This legislation was passed by the Parliament on 24 November 2005 and received Royal Assent on 5 January 2006. It builds on and repeals certain sections of the previous Housing (Scotland) Acts (HSAs) and will have a major impact on how Environmental Health Officers deal with sub-standard housing.

A new national liaison group has been established to deal with the subject of enforcement of the Smoke-Free initiative, with a meeting having been held in Milngavie, near Glasgow this week. It was attended by Smoking Enforcement Officers, Environmental Health Officers and Managers representing almost all of Scotland’s local authorities. The delegates were addressed by Mary Cuthbert of the Scottish Executive’s tobacco control unit and by Lisa Buck from Scotland’s Health at Work. Evonne Tennant of the host authority, East Dunbartonshire Council chaired. It was agreed the meeting had been extremely useful for sharing information and good practice and that the group would continue to meet on a quarterly basis, with the next scheduled meeting expected to be held in Falkirk in early December.

The attached document has been produced to summarise the Environmental Health priorities of five of the main Scottish political parties: Scottish Conservatives; Scottish Green Party; Scottish Labour; Scottish Liberal Democrats; Scottish National Party. The environment, public health, climate change, local government provision, poor housing, traffic congestion and air quality all appear to be concerns for the parties. The stance of each party has been outlined in the document.

REHIS launched an International Essay Competition last week. REHIS, a Founder Member of the International Federation of Environmental Health, celebrated its 135^th birthday earlier this year and has marked the occasion by inviting undergraduate and postgraduate students on Environmental Health programmes accredited by member organisations of the Federation to participate in an essay competition. The set essay topic will be: How would you raise the profile of environmental health and make its delivery more relevant to government and policy makers over the next five years? This is a REHIS award and the Institute aims to raise the profile of international environmental health issues, encourage student Environmental Health Professionals to consider Environmental Health in a global perspective, and promote the work of the Federation as the global umbrella organisation for environmental health. Full details attached.

Tom Bell

Chief Executive

The Scottish Coalition on Tobacco (SCOT) today called on all of Scotland’s political parties to include a commitment to a new tobacco control strategy for Scotland in their manifestos. Saying that the previous comprehensive strategy was now out of date and it was time for a robust new strategy suitable for Scotland’s particular challenges and opportunities.

SCOT is a coalition of partners which campaigns on all matters related to tobacco and health. Members aim to further reduce the harm caused by tobacco in Scotland and to campaign for better tobacco control.

The current membership of SCOT includes: ASH Scotland; British Heart Foundation Scotland;  British Lung Foundation Scotland; British Medical Association; Cancer Research UK; Chest, Heart & Stroke Scotland; Macmillan Cancer Support; Royal College of Nursing; The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation; Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland.

See more at  http://www.ashscotland.org.uk/ash/8268.html

The SCOT press release and the manifesto letter are attached below.

Graduates with environmental health degrees may celebrate their successes, but then find difficulty in finding placements with local authorities. Figures gathered by the Institute show that the lack of training places is not getting any better. See press release

REHIS has called on MSPs to support the proposed Private Member’s Bill to regulate sunbed salons. Details of the Bill have been put out to consultation prior to formal tabling in the Scottish Parliament, by Ken Macintosh, Labour MSP for Eastwood. The Institute is currently carrying out a survey of the use of sunbeds throughout Scotland and problems which arise through their use. See press release

A newly-published survey of all 32 Scottish Councils has shown that there are now more tanning outlets in Scotland than ever before, with an increasing number of complaints. With the number of cases of skin cancer on the increase, REHIS is calling for strong legislation to control these establishments.

During National Food Safety Week, REHIS is highlighting the hidden number of food poisoning cases in Scotland.

The President of REHIS, John Stirling, echoed the call from the First Minister, Jack McConnell for a ‘softly, softly’ approach towards the ban in its early days. John Stirling, the President of the Institute issued a statement agreeing that a fair and reasonable approach would be the order of the day, but that persistent offenders could expect to be punished. (See full press release)

The House of Commons has voted for a full ban on smoking in enclosed public places in England, similar to the measures which will apply in Scotland from next month. Although the ban in England is not likely to take effect until 2007, it was welcomed by the President of REHIS, John Stilrling, who said “This is a welcome move which helps to lay out a level playing field across the UK and will minimise confusion for businesses and members of the public”

One hundred enforcement officers from all over Scotland attended a training seminar on the Smoking Ban. Held in Stirling, by REHIS, the purpose was to encourage a fair and consistent approach to implementing the ban by Scotland’s 32 Councils. Further training is to be held in the near future for newly-recruited officers.