Agenda item

            The Committee considered the following report:

“1.0      Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1             The purpose of this report is to provide Members with an update on the ongoing recovery of our pest control service and in particular the commencement of home visits and treatments.

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Members of the Committee are asked to recommend that, in accordance with the Council decision of 4th May 2021, the Chief Executive exercise her delegated authority to

·        note the progress made to date on the ongoing recovery of the pest control service and the steps being taken to address the remaining challenges.

3.0       Main report

3.1       Members will be aware of the significant impact the pandemic has had on front line services such as pest control. In the early stages of last year a number of pest control officers were furloughed as they were required to shield for various reasons. The service continued to deliver the sewer baiting programme throughout that time and residents were offered advice and information. The tenants of social housing were advised to contact their housing provider to obtain pest control services.

3.2       We re-introduced the pest control service in September 2020, albeit in a very limited way. Risk assessments and the various control measures meant that very few home treatments could be carried out and only for the most vulnerable and where significant public health issues were identified. Most visits were restricted to external only, with officers providing advice and information.

3.3       In recent months with transmission rates reducing and the easing of government restrictions the Pest Control team has been working with Corporate Health and Safety to carry out further risk assessments using the less than 2m template and to put in place additional safety measures to enable home treatments to resume at the beginning of June. The Trade Unions have been kept informed and the risk assessments have been agreed.

3.4       The proposed safe system of work will require more time for each visit and in between visits as officers have a list of questions to ask the householder before entering the property and they will be required to change their PPE between visits.

3.5       The safety measures will impact on the number of treatments that can be completed in a day and there is the potential for a long waiting list to build up very quickly. This is a concern to both staff and the Trade Unions because of the negative impact this can have on customer perception of the service and subsequently on staff morale. In order to manage the waiting list it is proposed, in the first instance, to only carryout treatments in private rented sector and owner occupied property and to continue to refer the tenants of social housing to the Housing Executive and Housing Associations. This approach will be supported by sewer baiting, external assessments and drain testing for defects as required regardless of tenure.

3.6       We have only recently started collecting information that enables us to breakdown service requests received by tenure and it is difficult therefore to determine the impact this approach will have on our capacity to meet demand. Also, we anticipate an initial surge in demand for treatments as we restart the service. We will keep the figures and waiting list under close review and will of course include treatments for social housing tenants as soon as there is capacity to do so. Members will be kept informed of any further changes.

3.7       Home treatments are the priority; however, we are conscious the time of year for wasp nests is fast approaching and we are exploring options to recover this service, which remains suspended since last year. Members will be kept informed as this work progresses.

            Financial and Resource Implications

3.8       There are no additional financial implications associated with this report.

            Equality or Good Relations Implications/

            Rural Needs Assessment

3.9       There are no implications associated with this report.”

            Several Members emphasised the need to get pest control services operational again as soon as it was safe to do so and thanked the officers for their quick response to incidents throughout the City during the pandemic.

            During discussion the Members considered the role of the other statutory agencies and expressed concern that the Council appeared to be the public’s first point of contact with any pest control issue, despite the fact that the NIHE and Housing Associations also offered a pest control service.  They also highlighted the need for preventative measures throughout the City and the need for a multiagency approach in this regard.

            Following the suggestion of a Member, the Director of City Services agreed to liaise with the Customer Focus Programme Director to ascertain what role, if any, the Customer Hub could potentially play in logging potential requests for service and then referring the issue/area of concern to the appropriate  statutory agency.  She suggested that she would ask the Customer Focus Programme Director to update/e-mail the Members directly regarding whether this was possible.

            The Members of the Committee recommended that, in accordance with the Council decision of 4th May, the Chief Executive exercise her delegated authority to grant to:

·        write to NIHE and Housing Associations requesting that they communicate their role to their tenants in regard to the pest control services that they offer;

·        establish if there was an existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the NIHE and Housing Associations.  If so, update accordingly or alternatively draft a new document with an update report to be submitted to a future meeting of the Committee; 

·        write to Northern Ireland Water highlighting the issues and ask them to reaffirm their preventive role and multiagency approach going forward; and  

·        establish if the Members could log complaints via the Customer Hub which could then be referred via the hub to the other statutory agencies.