Residents in deprived neighbourhoods are getting lower standards of street cleaning and refuse collection services than residents in more affluent areas, according to a research report from the University of Glasgow for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. This is in spite of the greater range and severity of problems they face, particularly regarding graffiti, litter, fly-tipping, and poorly maintained public spaces.

Deprived neighbourhoods, with hard to look after features such as high-rise buildings, large open spaces, and higher than average population densities, are especially prone to environmental problems. However, local authorities do not routinely deploy services and resources which are sufficient to meet the needs of such neighbourhoods. This is due to difficulty in negotiating between these needs and the competing and well articulated demands from residents of better off neighbourhoods.

The study found environmental services staff working in deprived neighbourhoods were overwhelmed by persistently high levels of rubbish and litter, therefore undermining the quality of their work. In contrast, in neighbourhoods with fewer problems staff were better able to work effectively and knew that unsatisfactory work was likely to be reported.

The research, based on a survey of 49 local authorities and detailed work in four areas, shows responsible residents living in deprived neighbourhoods, who might previously have been motivated to take good care of their surroundings, losing heart when environmental problems went unresolved.

The researchers suggest that local authorities should routinely target enhanced services - such as more frequent street cleaning - towards deprived neighbourhoods. This can re-energise residents and frontline operatives, help to kick-start further improvements and begin to reverse the cycle of decline. Regeneration funding, such as the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund, can help local authorities to address the competing demands of poor and affluent neighbourhoods, but such funding will need to be sustained for improvements to last.

Annette Hastings, Senior Lecturer of Urban Studies at the University of Glasgow and co-author of the report, said: "People who live in deprived neighbourhoods clearly face a host of complex problems which are difficult to fix, such as bad housing or poor job prospects. They often endure poor environmental conditions as well. However, the problems of dirty streets can be fixed more easily than other problems. All it takes is the recognition by service managers that services need to be designed and deployed to meet the specific needs of deprived neighbourhoods. Action by frontline environmental services staff and residents can make a major difference."

"Clearly, central government also has a key role to play here in ensuring that the most intensely disadvantaged local authorities have the resources they need to tackle problem neighbourhoods without jeopardising service standards elsewhere."

Media Relations Office (media@gla.ac.uk)

For further details contact the University Press Office on 0141 330-3535. Alternatively contact Annette Hastings directly on 0141 330-6275 or 07910 696840.

Cleaning up neighbourhoods: Environmental problems and service provision in deprived neighbourhoods, by Annette Hastings, John Flint, Carol McKenzie and Carl Mills, is published for the Foundation by The Policy Press and available from Marston Book Services, PO Box 269, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4YN (01235 465500) price ?12.95 plus ?2.75 p&p. The report and a summary of findings is available as a free download from Joseph Rowntree website.

First published: 31 October 2005