Local Authority Pest Control Services In The Uk: Pests, Performance And Profit

Abstract:
The National Pest Advisory Panel of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) in the UK was established in 2001 to advise the CIEH on pest control policy. It developed a pest survey to understand the way in which pest management services within local authorities were operationalised and delivered in the UK. This paper examines some of the changes that have taken place between the 2002 survey and the 2012 survey. Within this interval the economic downturn resulted in significant job cuts in the public sector. There was a significant reduction in the number of local authorities that continued to provide an in-house pest management service to its residents. Significant reductions were found in the proportions of local authorities providing pest management services for specific public health pests.