Defra Research Project NANR 279 Research into Local Authority Insect Nuisance complaints and their resolution. Bell, B.A.¹, Lole, M.J.¹, England, J.², Barden, H.² ¹ADAS UK Ltd, ²England Marketing February 2010 Contents Executive Summary 1.0 Background 5 1.1 Consortium to perform the work 6 1.2 Objectives 6 2.0 Definition of Nuisance 7 2.1 What is a nuisance insect 7 2.2 List of nuisance insect species for Great Britain 9 3.0 Survey of Local Authority Environmental Health Practitioners 11 3.1 The range of sources of potential insect nuisance investigated by EHPs 11 3.1.1 Land covered by the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 13 3.1.2 Legislative processes 13 3.2 Types of nuisance insects dealt with 15 3.3 How staff investigate nuisance insect problems 15 3.3.1 Nuisance insect training available for EHPs 16 3.3.2 Sources of information 16 3.3.3 Specific identification of nuisance 17 3.3.4 Internal processes 17 3.4 Identification, assessment and evaluation of information available to EHPs 18 3.4.1 Currently available information 18 3.4.2 Assessment and evaluation of information 21 3.4.3 Gap analysis 22 4.0 Practical examples and case studies of good practice 24 4.1 Landfill site, SW England 24 4.2 Municipal Landfill site 25 4.3 Energy from Waste Power Plant 28 4.4 Intensive poultry unit 30 4.6 Nuisance associated with sewage treatment works 32 5.0 Conclusions 34 6.0 Recommendations 35 6.1 Identification of nuisance insects 35 6.2 How to conduct effective investigations into nuisance insects 35 6.3 Technical guidance concerning Best Practicable Means 35 List of Figures / Tables 38 Acknowledgements 38 Appendix 1: Telephone survey questionnaire 39 2 Appendix 2: Defra Guidance, Section 101 Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 42 Appendix 3 Breakdown of useful web pages by type and content 52 Appendix 3a Typical LA web based fact sheet for houseflies 53 Appendix 3b Typical LA web based fact sheet for bedbugs 54 Appendix 3c Typical LA web based fact sheet for wasps 57 Appendix 3d Typical LA web based fact sheet for cockroaches 59 Appendix 4: Local Authority Draft Code of Practice for the use of poultry manure 61 Appendix 4a Good Practice Guidance for fly management for animal husbandry units 65 Appendix 5: ADAS Programme for monitoring and control of flies in deep pit poultry houses 68 Appendix 5a Fly control in free range units 70 Appendix 6: Guidance to Accompany the Statutory Nuisance Provisions of the Public Health etc (Scotland) Act 2008. (Section 5 Insect Nuisance Provision) 73 Appendix 7: Defra.gov.uk: insect nuisance search 78 References 82 Further Reading 83 3 Executive Summary A telephone survey of Local Authority Environmental Health Practitioners (EHPs) was undertaken to determine the principal types and causes of insect nuisance complaints that they dealt with over the past three years and the information and practical guidance available to assist them in providing an effective solution to these problems. Over the last three years nuisance insect complaints were received by 60% of the authorities interviewed with poultry houses or farms accounting for 36% of complaints. Sewage treatment works, animal housing, manure/silage storage areas and landfill site/refuse tips each accounted for an additional 10% of the complaints. Complaints concerning flies were the most common and were the cause of all complaints about poultry houses or farms, and the primary complaint from all other premises listed in the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005. Just over 20% of the authorities that received insect nuisance complaints went on to issue a total of 16 Abatement Notices and these all dealt with cases of fly nuisance. The teams within the authorities that deal with insect nuisance vary in size from an individual to a team of 10+ and are made up of either Pest Control or Environmental Health Officers, each with the appropriate professional training but without specific training in dealing with insect problems. There seemed to be a general lack of formal internal procedures or protocols to deal with statutory nuisance from insects and where procedures are in place they have largely been based on either the Environmental Protection Act 1990 or the Defra guidelines which explain Section 101 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005. Identification of the cause of the nuisance would primarily be carried out using internal expertise or identification guides and pest control books and where in-house knowledge was deemed to be insufficient they would look to pesticide companies or the Defra website for advice. They may liaise with other authorities on cross boundary issues and some belong to local groups to share best practice as well as making use of the resources available on EHC.net. In most cases there had been little or no formal training on insects and most felt some form of formal training would be beneficial. Technical literature to send out to complainants, where available, was found to be generally nuisance or insect specific, rather than addressing the specific problem being reported. The need for guidelines on how to deal effectively with complaints in order to achieve a satisfactory outcome without recourse to legislative processes was expressed by those authorities that had dealt with nuisance insects particularly in relation to poultry houses and flies – what constitutes a problem, how to locate the source, a protocol that can be issued to premises and how to treat the problem (including environmentally friendly methods). There were requests for information detailing insect identification and what to do next, what constitutes a nuisance and the lifecycle of flies. To address the deficiencies in currently available information this report provides some case studies where good outcomes in dealing with nuisance insects have been achieved; identifies where practical advice is lacking and provides some guidance for EHPs on how to deal effectively with nuisance insect complaints. 4 1.0 Background On 7 April 2005 the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill received Royal Assent following a successful passage through Parliament to become the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005. It came into effect in April 2006. The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 deals with many of the problems affecting the quality of our local environment and a copy of the guidelines for nuisance insects provided by Defra can be found at Appendix 2. The Act provides local authorities, parish and community councils and the Environment Agency with more effective powers and tools to tackle poor environmental quality and anti-social behaviour. In particular the Act includes sections on statutory nuisance, abandoned vehicles, litter, graffiti, waste, noise and dogs. A section of the legislation introduces statutory nuisance from insects. Section 101 adds to the descriptions of statutory nuisances listed in section 79(1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990: „(fa) any insects emanating from relevant industrial, trade or business premises and being prejudicial to health or a nuisance‟. This provision does not apply to insects from domestic premises or to insects listed in Schedule 5 to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, unless they are included in that Schedule solely to prevent their trade or sale. This measure is intended to provide local authorities with a remedy to nuisances from insect infestations (whether naturally occurring or caused by human activities) on „relevant‟ industrial, trade or business premises. However, it is not meant to be used against most naturally occurring concentrations of insects on open land or in ways that would adversely affect biodiversity. Local authorities have a duty to investigate their areas periodically for statutory nuisances, and to take reasonably practicable steps to investigate complaints of nuisance and to issue an abatement notice once satisfied that a statutory nuisance exists or may occur or recur. In order to serve an abatement notice, the source of the problem must be identified. In this report we assess the current level of information available for local authority Environmental Health Practitioners to aid their investigation and resolution of insect nuisance complaints under Section 101 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 and identify, where appropriate, the need for further practical guidance. 5 1.1 Consortium to perform the work The partners are ADAS UK Ltd (lead partner) and England Marketing. 1.2 Objectives The objectives of the project are: 1: To understand the sources of potential insect nuisance and the level, type, and nature of complaints received by Local Authorities. 2: To identify and evaluate the information and practical guidance that is being used by the Environmental Health Practitioners in their investigations. 3: To determine the need and type of guidance to further assist Environmental Health Practitioners. 4: To identify, if appropriate, the need for further practical advice. 6 2.0 Definition of Nuisance insects An investigation into Nuisance Insects and Climate Change was commissioned by Defra in 2008 and published in March 2009: ‘An Investigation into the Potential for New and Existing Species of Insect with the Potential to Cause Statutory Nuisance to Occur in the UK as a Result of Current and Predicted Climate Change’ Roy, H.E.¹, Beckmann, B.C.¹, Comont, R.F.¹, Hails, R.S.¹, Harrington, R.², Medlock, J.³, Purse, B.¹, Shortall, C.R.² ¹Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, ²Rothamsted Research, ³Health Protection Agency Elements of the input into the above report are relevant to this report on nuisance insects and have been replicated here in part for ease of reference (sections 2.1 and 2.2): 2.1 What is a nuisance insect? Insects can constitute a nuisance in law. For a nuisance to be found in law depends on the circumstances, notably on the effects that insects have on humans and property.