To scrutinise the possible options for the future pest control service provision
Minutes:
a) Submitted
- the report of the Cabinet Member for Planning and Regulatory for the
Committee to consider possible options for the provision of the pest control
service. An explanation was provided on the nature of the service and it was
highlighted that the service was within the Regulatory Department's efficiency
savings programme for 2015-2018 - a saving of £67,000. By now, it was confirmed
that one officer had left and that by now, the figure to achieve the saving
should the unit be abolished was £28,440.
It was added that a lack of income remained
within the service, but that the Head of the Regulatory Department was eager to
consider possible options;
• Abolish
the pest control service
• Review
and increase the number of management and pest control contracts by improving marketing
• Raise
pest control fees to be self-sufficient
• Raise
pest control fees to meet the saving of abolishing the service
(It was suggested that raising the fees would
be too much inflation and therefore the service could become too expensive)
The Committee was requested to provide the
department with 6 months to identify improvements, a new fees structure and
realistic income targets to seek a self-sufficient service. The Senior Service
Manager noted that there were possible opportunities, such as increasing the
numbers of stable contracts and looking at increasing the number of contracts
in the Arfon area.
b) During the discussion, the following
observations were made:
• Welcome
the opportunity to maintain a self-sufficient service - the service was
necessary for the public
• Preferred
a neutral cost rather than abolishing
• Abolishing
the service would be likely to lead to an increase in the costs of private
companies and therefore it was important to keep the service within the Council
to safeguard prices for the public
• Important
service although it was not statutory
• Welcome
the need to market and to look at the fees of competitors / private companies
• The
health and safety implications also needed to be considered and not only
financial matters
• The
posts within the service were responsible and specialist
• Encouraged
collaboration with the recycling department
• Several
internal services depended on the service - if the service was abolished, where
and what would the cost of external / private companies come from and be?
c) In
response to the above observations the Head of Service noted that he appreciated
Members' support and that he was confident that it was possible to address the
deficit.
In response to a question regarding using
external / private companies, as the Council's pest control service was not a
statutory one, it was noted that it was difficult to find the fees of private
companies to note a comparison. The need for fair and consistent fees levels
was highlighted and the opportunity to further research the possible
opportunities was appreciated.
It was confirmed that efficiency savings were
in question and that the service was not on the Council's cuts list.
RESOLVED to accept the report and that a period
of 6 months should be permitted to submit a new fees structure and realistic
income targets for the pest control service to become self-sufficient.
Supporting documents: