Equality Impact Assessment - Street Lighting (and illuminated signs)

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The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames

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Is this service new or existing?

Street Lighting and illuminated signs is an existing service area.

Is there monitoring data available on the number of people who are using or impacted upon by the service?

There is no monitoring data available for this service.

If monitoring has NOT been undertaken, will this be done in future?

No consultation is carried out but it would be possible to include monitoring when notifying residents of new lighting schemes.

Equality or diversity-related consultation, research, or good practice guidance available:

Local academic research; Code of Practice; TfL research (London Buses); Mayor’s Transport Strategy; Lighting and Accessibility of Bus Stops.

What is the main purpose of the policy, service or project?

To provide safe, well lit streets and maintain adequate level of lighting. To strive to meet standards set out in Code of Practice.

For details of what is involved in delivering the service, see the Appendix, below.

Who are the main beneficiaries of the service?

All Borough residents and visitors benefit from this service.

Is the policy, service or project corporate and far-reaching?

The street lighting and illuminated signs service is corporate and far-reaching - it covers 98% of the Borough.

In your view, does the policy assist residents in meeting their most basic needs, i.e. shelter and income?

The street lighting and illuminated signs service does not assist residents in meeting their most basic needs.

Will the impact of the service potentially be short-lived or lasting?

The street lighting and illuminated signs service is lasting.

Does the service deal with delivering front-line services to residents or employees?

The provision of street lighting and illuminated signs is a front line service.

Are you expecting to make any changes to the policy during the next year?

Yes. The Council is committed to up-grading old street lights and £250,000 has been provided through Neighbourhood budgets and successful bids to TfL..

Does this service potentially have a high impact on Kingston residents, generally?

The provision of street lighting and illuminated signs does have a potentially high impact on Kingston residents.

How does the service impact on men and women?

It can be argued that the service has a potentially positive impact on women because of the perception that safety may be at risk if there is little or no street lighting (in reality Police have advised that young males are most at risk).

What type of impact does the service have on black and minority ethnic communities

It can be argued that the service has a potentially positive impact on BME communities because of the fear of crime. However, crime statistics do not support this.

What type of impact does the service have on people with disabilities?

There is a potentially positive impact on disabled people, particularly people with visual impairments. Good lighting will enhance their ability to see and be seen (note: concerns have been raised by elderly people in relation to bright lights as this can adversely affect sight). Similarly there could be a positive impact on people with hearing loss who have to rely more on sight.

What actions can be taken to minimise negative impacts and improve positive impacts on minority groups?

An initiative is already in place to put bus stops on well lit routes. Most fault reporting from the public is carried out by phone. Regular ‘scouting’ is carried out to identify faults. Close relationships exist with Police to address fear of crime e.g. Eden Street lighting scheme was developed as a result of concerns about attacks on young people.

Yellow bands have been introduced on signs in the Town Centre to make them easier to see. Feedback is necessary so that consideration can be given to extending this to lamp-posts. The minimum height for signs is 2.3m. Investigation is needed into the effects of brighter lights on elderly people’s eyes.

There is funding available to replace old street lighting across the borough, which will benefit everyone

What is the relevance of this service to minority groups?

Street lighting is supplied on the basis of meeting standards and need, although there are some special projects such as the Kingston Market Place and Kingston Bridge. 98% of the Borough is lit. It is not therefore provided in response to special circumstances as this is generally not an issue.

EQIA completed by:

Paul Stack/Christina Gardner

June 2004

Appendix

(Note: This includes lamp columns as well as illuminated signs).

Maintenance, Faults and fault reporting

Scouts check all street lighting for faults nightly with the whole of the borough being covered over a period of 10 days.
Scouts also check Pedestrian Crossings every Wednesday night, together with any known poor performance lighting on footpaths such as Burnham Street.
Members of the public also call the Council's dedicated line to report faults. The telephone number is provided on all lamp columns which also have a unique identification number. Voicemail is also used for out of office hours calls.
Some reports/complaints are received by correspondence although this has reduced considerably over the years as maintenance/monitoring has improved.
The aim is to deal with faults within four days and the contractor is dealing with them in 2 days. However, problems arise when the Electricity Board and Seeboard (now EDF) have to be involved and faults can take up to 12 weeks to repair.
If there are three adjacent lights out in respect of street signing then immediate action is taken.

Up-grading/replacing street lighting and other furniture

Up-grading of old street-lights is taking place as finance becomes available e.g. footpath from Lower Marsh Lane to Berrylands Station. The new lighting has whiter/brighter lights and remote monitoring.
Brightness of lighting has changed over the years. Now shifting to blue/white light but concerns have been raised by elderly people that this affects their eyes. This should be investigated further through appropriate organisations supporting people who are partially sighted.
Yellow bands have been introduced on street furniture in Kingston Town Centre. It would be helpful to obtain feedback on whether this is working so that consideration could be given to including this on every lamp-post.
The minimum height requirement for signs is 2.3m. If signs are below that height this is considered a safety hazard and this is addressed.
A signage review is currently being undertaken in the Directorate and this should include an equalities perspective.
Not everyone welcomes street lighting as some people regard it as light pollution.
Some schemes are targeted, such as road safety e.g. junctions, zebra crossings. There is also a close relationship with the Police especially in trying to address fear of crime e.g. Eden Street is being lit in response to accidents and physical attacks on people. There is also an initiative aiming to ensure bus stops are on well lit routes.
Funding has been allocated through Council Neighbourhood budgets and bids for TfL funds for up-grading street lighting (some £250,000) and to address issue of potentially dangerous columns etc.)

Monitoring/research

Street lighting is supplied on the basis of meeting standards and need, although there are some special projects such as the Kingston Market Place and Kingston Bridge. 98% of the Borough is lit. It is not therefore provided in response to special circumstances as this is generally not an issue such as with winter maintenance (gritting) when special arrangements are made in the vicinity of homes for older people.
Monitoring is more difficult as consultation is not generally undertaken as a matter of course. Street lighting is supplied on the basis of meeting standards and need, although there are some special projects such as the Kingston Market Place and Kingston Bridge. Monitoring will be carried out in relation to the replacement programme.
Some feedback was obtained from the public in respect of new 'white light' scheme introduced in areas of Chessington.
Residents are notified when a scheme is to take place affecting their street and this would provide scope to include the monitoring leaflet.
It is not considered practicable to carry out monitoring by phone due to staff time constraints, hostile response and likelihood of members of the public taking the opportunity to ‘have a go’ at staff.
Some examination of crime statistics took place to assess crime rates before and after lighting schemes are implemented but there was no difference. It is possible that good street lighting may even assist crime.
Surrey Comet ran article on lighting initiative and which included Council telephone number for fault reporting or reports of any problem areas in the Borough. Could consider article for Korean Newsletter, Mosque Notice Board, Kiingston Centre for Independent Living etc.
The Council needs more co-operation from outside agencies such as Railtrack and Electricity Board.

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