Transcript Tackling drug related litter – the Guidance

Tackling drug related litter –
Guidance and good practice
Andrew Osborne
Local Environmental Quality Team
Tackling drug related litter - history
• Looking at the issue since 2003
• Department of Health, Home Office, ODPM,
Encams, CIWM, etc
• The need for guidance
• Involvement of key players
Tackling drug related litter – why?
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Drug related litter doesn’t affect all communities
Where it is found – impacts are stark
Livability
Perceived risk higher than the actual risk
Tackling drug related litter – facts and figures
• 97% of local authorities were aware of discarded needles
having been reported or found in the previous three years
• Over a quarter of authorities found in excess of 100
needles in 2001 (27%), in comparison to almost a third in
2002 (31%) and 2003 (30%)
• Overall, discarded needles were most commonly found in
parks and playing fields (83%), residential areas (77%)
and public toilets (72%)
Tackling drug related litter – facts and figures
• Two-fifths of local authorities were aware of needlestick
injuries since 2001 (40%)
• A total of 169 injuries were recorded in the three years
prior to the 2004 survey
• The 2004 study found that the majority of people injured
by discarded needles were local authority employees
• LEQSE less than 1% of sites affected by DRL
Tackling drug related litter – the Guidance
• Part one – context and legislation
• Part two – managing the issue (the 14
recommendations)
• The role of partnership
• Audience
• Not compulsory
Tackling drug related litter - Recommendations
• When setting up a new service to respond to DRL
(or reviewing an existing service), evaluate the
need for provision on sex related litter and
consider a combined service, where this need
exists
Tackling drug related litter – Recommendations
• Establish an agreement or protocol between the
Police and local agencies regarding the
possession of used needles and drug
paraphernalia
Tackling drug related litter – Recommendations
• Liaise with your local Environment Agency office
at the earliest opportunity in order to determine
what regulations apply and how these will be
enforced
Tackling drug related litter - Recommendations
• Working in partnership is the key to the effective
management and reduction of drug related litter.
Whatever range of approaches are taken, they
will all be far more effective when taken in
partnership. There are a wide range of agencies
and organisations that will have some part to play
in reducing the problem and its wider impacts
Tackling drug related litter - Recommendations
• Where drug related litter is identified as a
problem, agencies in an area should prepare one
joint plan to tackle it; clearly identifying all relevant
stakeholders with them signed up to specific roles
Tackling drug related litter - Recommendations
• Coordinate the reporting of discarded needles
across all local agencies and departments in
order to establish a true picture of the extent,
locations and nature of the problem
Tackling drug related litter - Recommendations
• Needle exchanges and other suppliers of harm
reduction equipment for drug users should ensure
that they actively work with local partners to
reduce the incidence of needles and other drug
litter discarded in public places
Tackling drug related litter - Recommendations
• Local authority cleansing standards should
include clear response times for drug litter (and
other dangerous items) that are faster than those
for general litter
Tackling drug related litter - Recommendations
• Local service providers should deliver a 24 hour
service; collecting needles from as wide a range
of locations as possible; working with
neighbouring agencies to provide this where it is
more efficient to do so. Repeat calls to the same
location should be followed up with proactive
design solutions
Tackling drug related litter - Recommendations
• Training and briefing should be provided for all
those who will potentially come into contact with
drug litter. Staff should take the view that any
needle or paraphernalia could be infected and will
therefore present a risk requiring appropriate
management
Tackling drug related litter - Recommendations
• Plans for managing drug related litter should
include close liaison with those responsible for
the design, maintenance and management of
public toilets
Tackling drug related litter - Recommendations
• Due to the increased risk to users and lack of
evidence as to its efficiency, blue lighting should
not be used in public toilets to deter drug use
Tackling drug related litter - Recommendations
• Partnerships should fully explore the potential for
sharps bins, liaising closely with drug users and
services to ensure the siting and promotion of
bins is as effective as possible
Tackling drug related litter - Recommendations
• Public information should not include any
suggestion that needles can be moved or
touched, nor any reference to steps that the
public could take to dispose of needles they find.
At the very least, full legal advice should be
sought before including any such advice
Tackling drug related litter
• Funding
• Further information
Further information
www.defra.gov.uk/environment/localenv/index.htm
E-mail
[email protected]