Looming Local Authority Job Losses Include Pest Control Positions
Imminent financial cuts within local councils are expected to result in significant job losses nationwide. The cuts are expected to affect a wide variety of essential services, ranging from bin collections, park and garden maintenance and leisure facilities to pest control.
In particular, a reduction in the number of bin collections performed by local councils is expected to have a knock-on effect on the level of pest control that will be required. This service is also likely to be cut, however, and if not addressed could leave communities facing infestation problems.
Massive Job Losses
Recent figures have indicated that in the 52 councils across Britain over 25,000 jobs could be lost. Scotland could be especially hard hit with over 6,000 job losses predicted, while areas in England, both rural and urban, are also expected to experience the backlash. Several services that ensure communities are not only clean and liveable in but also lively and enjoyable could be deemed disposable as a result of the council cuts. Services that are important to vulnerable members of the community, such as children and the elderly, may not be deemed essential and could also be cut.
Effect on Pest Control
The chief executive of the British Pest Control Association, Simon Forrester, has encouraged any pest control professionals within local authority units to make their voices heard and draw attention to the ways in which these cuts affect their ability to perform a service.
“Reducing the number of collections of waste in busy areas – as the cuts to bin collections promise to do – is terrible news for householders,” Forrester said. “Pests can rapidly become a serious problem.”
Local pest control units provide services that include infestation removal and nuisance bird management. Some, such as www.vvenv.co.uk/, may cover broad areas like London and the South East, and others may be smaller in scope. It is hoped, if cuts must be made, that councils will carefully consider the ways in which the decisions will affect the quality of living for their constituents and those they employ.
Forrester said, “Bins and bags that are full and decomposing in the street attract a variety of bacteria and infestations, including mice and rats. This must be seen as a genuine danger to public health. Reducing the number of collections is a recipe for disaster.”
