Public Protection Practitioner - Environmental Health

Team: Public Protection

Job Family: Directing - CBG9 - CBG12

Salary: £33,731 - £48,872 per annum pro rata (depending on experience and qualifications)

Hours: 37 Hours per week

Location: You will be expected to attend a CBC office location as often as needed to carry out your role, which will be no less than once per month.

Contract Type: Hybrid - Permanent

Closing Date: 12th January 2025

Interview Date: TBC - Interviews will be arranged following application.

About the role:  

Central Bedfordshire Council have an exciting opportunity for a qualified Environmental Health Practitioner to join the commercial pollution department. The position will cover Statutory Nuisance investigations (commercial), Environmental permitting compliance visits and consulting on planning applications (contaminated land, air quality, noise). You will need to work unsupervised in these areas to meet our statutory requirements.

To be considered for the role you will need to have as a minimum a degree in Environmental Health and three years experience carrying out a similar role for a local authority.

You will have excellent interpersonal and communication skills and be an expert in managing your own workload. You will also need a good work ethic (even under pressure), be conscientious and hard-working and be prepared to work as part of a team. Using your great communication skills, you will be confident and enjoy dealing with members of the public, while representing the Council in a positive and proactive manner.

Main Duties & Responsibilities – the post holder will be required to: 

• Conduct inspections and respond to complaints and enquiries at business and residential properties to monitor compliance with environmental protection laws and regulations.
• Provide advice and guidance to businesses, residents, and other stakeholders on best practices for environmental protection.
• Issue enforcement notices, stop work orders, and fixed penalty notices to compel compliance with environmental regulations.
• Carry out criminal investigations to improve levels of compliance, therefore an understanding of investigative procedures (RIPA, CPIA, PACE) is required.
• Maintain accurate records of work, complaints and intelligence received using CBC database (Acolaid).  
• To undertake any other duties that may reasonably be requested, appropriate to the grade. 
• It is an essential requirement that you have a full driving licence your own transport to get around Central Bedfordshire.

Required Qualifications and Experience:

• Degree or equivalent qualification in environmental health, environmental science, or a related discipline (essential).
• Minimum 3 years of experience in environmental enforcement, regulatory compliance, or a similar role (essential).
• Thorough knowledge of environmental protection legislation and regulations (essential).
• Proven investigative skills and ability to gather admissible evidence (essential).
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to liaise with a range of stakeholders (essential).
• Strong analytical and report writing abilities (essential).
• Proficient in the use of IT systems and mobile technology for data collection and reporting (essential).

This position is a hybrid role and you are expected to carry out visits in the area on a regular basis.

Our Offer 

We have a number of rewards and benefits available to our staff, to view these please visit our Rewards and Benefits page  

Our aspiration is to be a truly flexible employer.  We welcome discussion on location, hours and working pattern as part of the application process. 

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You will be expected to demonstrate how you meet the key accountabilities and competencies in this Recruitment Pack. 

Our Competency Framework and Qualification Guidance are to be read in conjunction with our Recruitment Pack. 

For an informal discussion about this position, please contact: David Rubidge at david.rubidge@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk

Safeguarding : 

Central Bedfordshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all employees, volunteers and contractors to share this commitment. This post is subject to the disclosure of criminal records.   

To maintain a fair and consistent approach for applicants, it is Central Bedfordshire Council's policy to only consider applications made via our online application system and we therefore thank you for not submitting your application offline. 

Our National Careers Service team offer a free weekly workshop covering CV writing and how to complete the statement sections of the Central Bedfordshire Council online application form. This MS Teams workshop is open to anyone from the UK and lasts around 1.5 hours. Please book your place here. 

More information about this service can be found here: Support getting into work or learning | Central Bedfordshire Council