EQUALITY IMPACT NEEDS REQUIREMENT ASSESSMENT

Transcription

1 Version 4 EQUALITY IMPACT NEEDS REQUIREMENT ASSESSMENT ON ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH S PEST CONTROL SERVICE August 2009

2 BRENT COUNCIL S PEST CONTROL SERVICE EQUALITY IMPACT NEEDS REQUIREMENT ASSESSMENT 1. The Service The Pest Control service currently offers eradication treatments for most common pests including rats, mice, cockroaches, bed bugs, fleas and wasps. Unlike some authorities, Brent Council has traditionally provided a free domestic treatment for rats because of their public health significance in transmitting human diseases. The number of premises reporting infestations of rats is steadily increasing year on year and is currently in excess of 2,000 per annum. All other treatments are charged at a market rate and the service competes with the private sector for both domestic and commercial customers. A proportion of the service funding is provided by the Council and the remainder of the service relies on external sales to fully fund the free rat service and provide a competitively priced variety of treatments for other insect and rodent pests. A holistic approach The service offered for domestic premises is purely treatment and not preventative which means that properties are being treated only on request. As such eradication of pests is sporadic and not effective in reducing the pest population as a whole. The free rat service is currently being examined under a Systems Thinking approach. It is likely that the way the service is provided will significantly change within the next year in order to maximise efficiency and effectiveness in dealing with the ever expanding rat population. Health inequalities The pests of greatest public health significance are rats, mice, cockroaches and bed bugs. Treatments of mice, cockroaches and bed bugs are likely to be undertaken where people can more easily afford the cost of the treatments or are less tolerant of unhealthy conditions or less aware of the potential for an adverse impact on their health, which could lead to health inequalities between areas of the borough. Poverty and social exclusion particularly in the south of the borough are still significant issues. The gap between rich and poor in Brent is growing and the number of households on low incomes is increasing. Five neighbourhoods fall within the top 10% of most deprived in the UK and within these, 20% of households have a gross income of less than 100 per week and 40% have an income entirely made up of benefits. Page 2 of 10

3 Of working age residents in Brent, 4% are registered unemployed which is almost double the rate of unemployment in the UK. In some priority neighbourhoods in the south of the borough the unemployment rate rises to over 9%, double the borough rate. The cost of pest control treatments will rise by 10 in the latter part of 2009 although a 10 discount will be given to customers paying at the time of booking by credit/debit card. This arrangement will make it more difficult or more costly for customers who chose to pay by cash. Traditionally, the worst pest infestations are in households of greatest deprivation and any effect of the new payment arrangements will need to be closely monitored to determine whether or not there is a significant impact in take up of the service. Whilst the cost of pest control treatments has risen over time, they are comparable to the industry standard. The cost of bed bug treatment is however comparatively high due to the job being labour intensive and bed bugs are a pest most closely associated with social deprivation. 2. Service policies The aim of the service is to provide treatments to whoever requests them, provided they are willing to pay any associated fee. Fees are required to maintain the service as only a proportion of rat control in domestic premises is supported by corporate funding. A free rat service is provided only in privately owned individual residential properties, whether tenanted or owner occupied. Treatments for other pests in Council owned properties are the responsibility of the Brent Housing Partnership and are not included in the scope of this assessment. The service is occasionally marketed through advertising and verbal selling in order to obtain commercial contracts but in the main the service relies on general community knowledge of the service. 3. Single Equality Scheme This policy is consistent with the Council s aim to ensure that the services we provide are relevant to the needs of all sections of the communities as outlined in the Council s Single Equality Scheme The salient purpose of this policy is to ensure that our Service is relevant, responsive and sensitive and we are deemed to be fair and equitable by all our service users. 4. Impact on different groups The impact of the Pest Control service upon different equalities groups was investigated using a variety of information predominantly from surveys and the 2001 census. The assessment provided the following findings: Page 3 of 10

4 1. There is no evidence to suggest that the service is under used or not used by any ethnic grouping to any great extent. 2. There is some evidence to suggest that overall, all ethnic groupings were less satisfied with the service they had received last year compared to the previous year. However this result was seen right across the entire range of services provided by Environmental Health although it does not appear to be a trend from previous years. 3. There is no evidence to suggest that the service is not being used by particular groups because treatments are unaffordable. Indeed it is hoped that with the introduction of a discount for prepayment of pest treatments that the number of customers thinking charges are reasonable will rise in the next survey. 5. Evidence used Pest Control Customer Equalities Survey A specific survey of pest control customers was undertaken in February 2009 in order to provide baseline equalities information. Information received from 137 customers is presented in tables 1 and 2 below. Unfortunately in the majority of questions asked, customers often chose not to disclose their information. Between 66 and 93 out of 133 customers elected not to divulge at least some of their details. With the answers that were obtained, the survey provided the findings listed below: A slightly higher proportion of customers were female as opposed to male. This was higher than that found in the census demographic which found the gender of Brent s population only slightly more female than male. The proportion of customers from different ethnic groups more closely followed that of the census with slightly more customers than may be expected coming from the Asian ethnic grouping. The proportion of customers with a disability was lower than in the population census and this may be due to the fact that a significant proportion of disabled people are residents in a care facility and who would not have property related responsibilities and are therefore not potential service users. Ages of pest control customers are distributed throughout the age ranges however they do not seem to follow a similar pattern to that of Brent s population generally, as shown by population data in Bren s census results. This may be at least in part due to the 67 customers that chose not to divulge their age grouping and has led to a skewing of the figures. The available evidence does not appear to discriminate against the young or elderly, indeed the take up of the service by those in the age band of greater than 65 is more than would be expected from the census demographic. A lower take up of the service from the youngest bands may be due to the fact that these age groups are less likely to own or rent a property and use of the service is property dependent as it is properties that are usually infested, not people. Table 1: Pest Control customer breakdown Page 4 of 10

5 Number of pest control customers responding to survey %age of customers responding to survey Population of Brent (Census 2001) Gender Ethnic Group Male Female Black White Asian Mixed Chinese & other People with a Disability Yes No % 56% 23% 41% 35% 0 0 7% 92% 49% 51% 20% 45% 28% 4% 3% 17% 83% Page 5 of 10

6 Table 1 cont.. Religion Number of pest control customers responding to survey %age of customers responding to survey Population of Brent (Census 2001) Christian Hindu Jewish Muslim Not given None % 10% 1% 5% 58% 2% Table 1 cont.. Sexual Orientation Number of pest control customers responding to survey %age of customers responding to survey Population of Brent (Census 2001) Heterosexual Not given % 71% Not available Table 2: Age distribution of Pest Control customers No of respondents %age pest control customers 12% 12% 13% 28% 10% 26% Population of Brent (Census 2001) 14 24% 16% 14% 11% 15% Customer Satisfaction Surveys Customer satisfaction surveys are undertaken annually by Environment and Culture and include customers and businesses that use the pest control service as well as the other services within Environmental Health. The last survey was undertaken in Appendix 1 below shows the number of Environmenatal Health customers that were satisfied or dissatisfied with the service provided. The results show that in the last year, the overall satisfaction rating has slipped from 81% to 68%. Within that part of the survey, overall satisfaction ratings have dropped amongst all ethnic groupings and amongst males and females. Overall satisfaction ratings remain constant amongst disabled customers alone. Page 6 of 10

7 Whilst this decrease in satisfaction levels at least in part may be due to customers not being able to get through on the telephone as easily this year as compared to last an increase of 9% of customers to 26% reported it took them 2 or 3 times to get through to the service it may also be due to a slightly greater number of customers reporting they think charges are not reasonable up to 48% - or it may be because of a general trend in Environmental Health. Within the ethnic groupings, the number of very satisfied customers decreased in all categories. The corresponding level of customers neither satisfied nor dissatisfied increased. There was a slight increase in customers fairly dissatisfied but no customers were very dissatisfied. 6. Unmet Customer Needs No specific group of people was found to be accessing the service disproportionately less than might be expected. Some of the figures have been slightly skewed because of the high rate of customers choosing not to provide their information. Should the exercise be repeated in future, consideration should be given to the mode of data collection in order to ensure a higher, and therefore more accurate, response rate. 7. Consultation undertaken Consultation was undertaken in February 2009 with a sample of customers over approximately a two week period. The consultation comprised of a questionnaire completed during a visit by a pest control officer to carry out a pest eradication treatment. During this period, 133 customers were interviewed and it is disappointing to note that up to 70% of those interviewed chose not to respond to certain questions. 8. Publication of consultation The results of the pest control customer survey has been published on the Environmental Health internet pages and the results of the Environment and Culture survey are found on the consultation database found on the Council s internet pages. 9. Public concern There has been no concern expressed by the public that the pest control service is being operated in a discriminatory manner. 10. Impact of the Service No unjustified impact in accessing the service was identified in any of the customer equality categories. There is no justification for any adverse impact caused by the policies and operation of the Pest Control service. The service aims to provide pest control Page 7 of 10

8 treatments and advice to all equalities groups, regardless of their race, disability, age, religion, sexual orientation or gender. 11. Improving Access to the Service Pest control services are widely available in the private sector and therefore it is not essential for customers to use the Council s service. However it is in the interest of the Council to maximise income generation by competing with the private sector and to this end occasionally undertakes advertising and other forms of marketing. Plans are in place at the time of writing this report to offer a 10 discount to customers paying with a credit or debit card at the time of booking a treatment and it is hoped that this discount will increase accessibility of the service to the poorer members of the community as well as making the service more efficient. 12. Justification for Improving Access The justification for improving access to the service is the increased profit provided to the Council which in turn will reduce the burden on direct funding through Council tax. 14. Future Monitoring Any significant policy change will be subject to an Equalities Impact Assessment and this could well be considered when any changes from systems thinking are introduced. 15. Recommendations It is recommended that the Pest Control service monitors uptake of the service following the introduction of discount availability at the time of booking to ensure that there is no adverse impact on the take up of the service. Environmental Health s Senior Management Group should also consider any changes to the service from systems thinking in terms of any unjustified impact on any of the groups listed in this report. The EH SMG could also consider measures to improve the overall customer satisfaction ratings in the Unit which have appreciably dipped in the last year, 17. Resources There will be increasing pressure on the Council to reduce expenditure over the coming years so any resources required will have to be found from existing budgets or new income streams. This assessment was completed on the 24 August 2009 by: Clive Dinsey Service Manager Environmental Health Page 8 of 10

9 Appendix 1 QUESTION 2007/ /09 Q4-8. Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied were you with the service provided? Environment & Culture Overall Average Unit 4 Overall Average Environment & Culture Overall Average Unit 4 Overall Average 1. Very Satisfied Fairly Satisfied Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied Fairly Dissatisfied Very Dissatisfied < None of the above Q4-8 % reply Male Female Male Female 1. Very Satisfied Fairly Satisfied Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied Fairly Dissatisfied Very Dissatisfied None of the above Q4-8 % reply Disabled Not disabled Disabled Not disabled 1. Very Satisfied Fairly Satisfied Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied Fairly Dissatisfied Very Dissatisfied None of the above Version 4

10 Q4-8 % reply Asian / Asian British Black / Black British Chine se / other ethnic group White Mixed Asian / Asian British Black / Black British Chinese / other ethnic group 1. Very Satisfied Fairly Satisfied Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied Fairly Dissatisfied Very Dissatisfied None of the above White Mixed Page 2 of 10