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At your service
From resolving nuisance noise issues to inspecting food hygiene standards in eateries across the city, the work of the council's environmental health service has been given a 'thumbs up' from Hull residents.
Last year 13,791 residents and businesses asked for help and advice from Hull's environmental health team, and more than 93 per cent of people were satisfied with the response.
East Hull's Emma Mitchell received help from the team when dealing with the noise caused by a neighbour's two German Shepherd dogs which barked at all hours of the day and night.
She persevered with the noise for weeks, but when talks with her neighbour failed to resolve the problem, Emma felt she had no option but to approach the council for help.
"The barking was absolutely awful," says Emma. "It seemed to go on constantly and often kept me, and my four-year-old son, awake at night. It was driving me up the wall.
"The environmental health officers who dealt with my case were really supportive. They made me feel much calmer about the situation and the matter was soon sorted out."
They gave Emma, who was also pregnant at the time, an emergency number so at times of disturbance she could call and an officer would be sent to her home to take noise readings.
In one week, six readings were taken and used as evidence of excessive noise.
This enabled the council to serve a noise abatement notice on Emma's neighbour, who then had the dogs re-homed.
Success stories
"Emma's case is just one of hundreds we deal with each year," says Norma Cottis divisional manager for environmental health services.
"We deal with a whole manner of things, from inspecting hygiene standards in restaurants to ensuring public buildings and workplaces comply with the recent smoke free laws.
"To monitor our performance we ask a sample of local residents and businesses their opinions about how well they feel we dealt with them."
The latest results show 95 per cent of respondents were very satisfied or satisfied with the officer's attitude, courteousness and helpfulness and 93 per cent of respondents were very satisfied or satisfied with the service overall.
"It's one thing to say we are doing well, but the judgement has to come from our customers as it is their opinions that matter," adds Norma.
"They've given us a 'thumbs up' for our work and we are determined to make sure our positive performance continues."
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