Pest infestations across Government sites (FOI)

Request

A

For the last five years how many pest incidents there have been at the hospital? 

B

For those five years please break down the incidents by the type of pest that was involved and where the pests were in the hospital? 

C

For those five years please break down the cost of pest control at the hospital? 

D

Please may I have the same information as in questions A to C for the prison? 

E

Please may I have the same information as in questions A to C for the Greenfields Secure Care Unit?

Response

A and B

Figures for recorded instances of pests at Health and Community Services (HCS) facilities since April 2019 are detailed in the attached table, broken down by pest type.

Number of recorded instances of pests at HCS facilities.pdf​

C

HCS has a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with a third-party provider for a fixed annual cost. This SLA covers trap inspections, callouts and any treatments required to manage pests or vermin across the Jersey General Hospital, Sandybrook, Overdale, Enid Quenault Health and Wellbeing Centre, St Saviour and Five Oaks sites. The contract value is considered to be commercially sensitive, therefore, Article 33(b) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied. 

D

There have been five detections of pests at the Prison in the last five years:

• three detections of mice 
• two detections of rats.
  

All detections were found in the gardening compound.

The Prison pays a fixed annual cost for pest control services. Service provision includes preventive measures, with no additional costs on call-out should an outbreak occur. The contract value is considered to be commercially sensitive, therefore, Article 33b) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied. 

E

There have been no pest incidents during the last five years at Greenfields. No costs have been incurred.

Article applied

Article 33 - Commercial interests

Information is qualified exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes a trade secret; or

(b) its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of a person (including the scheduled public authority holding the information).

Public Interest Test

Article 33 is a qualified exemption and as such, a prejudice test has been conducted as required by law. 

When responding to requests of this nature, the Government of Jersey (“the Government”) has to balance the public interest with the impact that disclosing this information would, or would be likely to, have upon the organisation and / or third parties. Whilst it may be in the public interest to understand the costs of contracting services, protecting the commercial interests of the Government is an essential component in controlling public finances, which in itself is in the public interest.

It has been concluded that disclosing details of contractual service arrangements is likely to prejudice the commercial interests of the Government and / or the provider. When considering the application of this exemption, it has been determined that whilst it is in the public interest to disclose information, this is outweighed by the necessity to limit any impact on the commercial interests of the Government and third parties in future contract negotiations, and as such, Article 33(b) has been applied.​