Rodents: Pest Control

(asked on 24th June 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) what assessment they have made of the increase in the rat population in the UK, and (2) what steps they are taking to ensure that environmental health officials have sufficient resources to deal with this issue.


This question was answered on 8th July 2021

Defra does not hold data on the UK’s rat population. However, in 2018 Natural England published A Review of the Population and Conservation Status of British Mammals. This provides an estimate of the British population of brown rats to be around seven million. While this suggests a potential 7% increase since 1995, owing to the lack of data on the size or density of brown rat populations, it should not be used to confirm any view on recent changes in the population.

Under The Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949, local authorities have a duty to deal with infestations of rats and mice. Local authorities have the flexibility to allocate resources to address local priorities, based on an assessment of risk. The Government is supporting regulatory services teams, which includes environmental health teams, through the Regulatory Services Task and Finish Group, which was established to help coordinate central government’s expectation of regulatory services teams in local government and to propose short and long-term options to support these essential services.

Reticulating Splines