Environmental health officers notched up 100% following an audit of the council’s sports ground safety function.
The local authority is responsible for issuing safety certificates for sports grounds and stadia over a certain capacity.
These include Molineux, which has a capacity of 31,818, as well as smaller grounds at Monmore Green and Wolverhampton Racecourse.
Environmental health officers work closely with the grounds to provide specialist advice, undertake regular inspections, and ultimately issue the safety certificates.
An audit of the work of the council was carried out by the Sports Ground Safety Authority (SGSA) and looked specifically at the safety programme the council undertakes with Molineux.
The council scored 45 out of 45 for the criteria set by the SGSA. A summary of the audit highlighted that:
- there is a good safety culture within the local authority
- the officers involved in the safety of sports grounds function are competent and have a high level of capability
- training of additional officers has improved resilience
- the local authority has an effective Safety Advisory Group (SAG) process which is at a high level and that the authority were committed to the SAG and safety certification process
- the SGSA Inspector had confidence in the local authority’s ability to discharge its statutory duty in respect of its safety at sports grounds function
- the performance of the local authority remains at a very high level and standard and reflects the professionalism in the safety of sports ground team and commitment to public safety by the authority
No further recommendations were made by the inspector and the audit will continue to be carried out annually.
Councillor Bhupinder Gakhal, cabinet member for resident services at City of Wolverhampton Council, said: “This is a really important achievement for our environmental health team and recognises the council’s commitment to sports ground safety.
“I’d like to thank all staff involved for their commitment and dedication which resulted in such a fantastic result and such positive comments from the assessor.
“Our overriding aim will always be for the welfare of spectators and our officers work very closely with our sports grounds to make sure that fans can come along and enjoy their favourite sport in safety.”
