The Worcestershire Regulatory Services Board is scheduled to meet on 25 September 2025 to discuss financial monitoring, funeral director inspections, activity and performance data, and firework controls. The board will also be asked to note the minutes of the previous meeting.

Funeral Director Inspections in Worcestershire

The board will be presented with a report on funeral director inspections in Worcestershire. The report notes that unlike healthcare or social care, the funeral industry in England and Wales is largely unregulated. In response to concerns, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) issued guidance for local authorities to conduct inspections of funeral directors within their regions. Between December 2024 and April 2025, Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) inspected a sample of 15 funeral directors in Worcestershire, from a total of 40.

The report says that the inspections revealed that most funeral directors in Worcestershire are operating to a good standard. A very small number of establishments had minor compliance issues, which are being addressed through recommendations for improvement and one referral to The National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF). Some recurring areas of concern were noted across a few establishments:

• Documentation and record-keeping
• Facility maintenance
• Transparency in pricing
• CCTV

The report notes that approaches to handling charitable donations varied between businesses. The MoJ has been notified of the findings locally, contributing to national discussions on the future regulation of the funeral industry. The report concludes that the inspection programme successfully provided a comprehensive overview of the funeral services being provided in Worcestershire.

Activity and Performance Data Quarter 1 2025/6

The board will be presented with a report on activity and performance data for Quarter 1 of 2025/6. The report details the number of complaints and enquiries to the service regarding food are around the trend line or slightly above it. Some 329 programmed interventions were undertaken during quarter 1, 5% resulted in a business being rated as non-compliant . The number of health and safety complaints and enquiries is roughly on trend. The number of complaints and enquiries about dog control was the lowest for many quarters at only 29, however, the number of reported strays has started the year high at 426. In licensing, the number of complaints and enquiries appeared to follow the previous slightly downward trend, with 651. Planning support work continued an upward trend, with Q1 figures again exceeding those at the same point in the previous 2 years, with 977 requests. Pollution cases started the year on the increase, with 553 cases approaching the level achieved in Q1 of 2023/4. Public health complaints and enquiries were roughly on-trend this year with 136 complaints and enquiries.

The non-business customer measure at 53.8% is lower compared to this point in the last 3 years. Satisfaction for business customers was on the low side at 91.8%, with no obvious indications as to why this should be the case. 98.3% of businesses subject to intervention were graded 3 stars to 5 stars on the hygiene rating scheme¹. Staff sickness is at 2.17 days per FTE², is significantly above the previous 3-year's figures for this period.

The report includes activity reports from:

• Community Environmental Health
• Licensing
• Technical Services
• Dog Control
• Food Safety
• Health & Safety
• Information Requests
• Planning
• Planning Enforcement & Environmental Crime
• Pollution
• Noise
• Public Health

The report also includes data relating to:

• Bromsgrove
• Malvern Hills
• Redditch
• Worcester City
• Wychavon
• Wyre Forest
• Birmingham City
• Cheltenham
• Gloucester City
• Tewkesbury

Worcestershire Regulatory Services Revenue Monitoring April – June 2025

The board will be asked to note the final financial position for the period April – June 2025. Partner councils will be informed of their liabilities for April – June 2025 in relation to bereavements:

• Bromsgrove District Council £3,000
• Redditch Borough Council £1,000
• Worcester City Council £9,000

Partner councils will be informed of their liabilities for 2025-26 in relation to pest control:

• Redditch Borough Council £8,000
• Wychavon District Council £10,000

Partner councils will be informed of their liabilities for 2025-26 in relation to additional technical officers:

• Bromsgrove District Council £9,000
• Malvern Hills District Council £7,000
• Redditch Borough Council £2,000
• Worcester City Council £3,000 for technical officer animal activity and £41,000 for gull control
• Wychavon District Council £16,000
• Wyre Forest District Council £10,000

The report details a projected outturn 2025/26 of £2,000 surplus. A 3% pay award has been added to the projected outturn figures, as per the original budget. If April to June 25 spend on pest control continues on the same trend for the rest of year, there will be an overspend on this service of £18,000. The report includes details of the income achieved by WRS April – June 25. WRS are continuing to work on the Victoria Forms project & is now receiving income for all partner councils for temporary event notices licence (TEN's).

Briefing on Firework Controls

The board will receive a briefing on firework controls. The report notes that for several years, councillors at both district and county level have had a range of issues raised with them in relation to fireworks. Worcestershire County Council is the licensing authority for the storage of explosives. District councils have little legal role in controlling the use of fireworks, although they can prevent their use on their land or property by using contractual terms in hire agreements. The use of fireworks is not a licensable activity under the Licensing Act 2003, so public firework displays are not licensed by district councils. The law specifies the cut off times for the use of fireworks, which are 11pm for all nights except for bonfire night, when the cut off is midnight and 1am for New Year, Diwali and Chinese New Year celebrations. Enforcement of these curfew times is the responsibility of West Mercia Police, as are offences for letting fireworks off in a public place or other forms of misuse. The report concludes that councils have a limited formal role in regulating the use of fireworks.