Call-outs plunge after councils charge for rat catchers' visits

Two councils in South Yorkshire announced a plan to withdraw free domestic rat-catching services earlier this year and both started charging at the start of April.

In Sheffield, the charge was set at 35, and figures show that in the first three months of operation the number of complaints made by private householders fell by half. The sharp drop took pest control officers by surprise, because they expected a fall in complaints of 33 per cent at most, and a review of charging is now taking place.

A report by Sheffield Council's pest control manager Neil Wilkinson will be examined by the authority's culture, economy and sustainability scrutiny committee next week.

It says: "Since the introduction of the charge the total number of rat complaints, domestic and commercial, has fallen. When broken down into domestic-only this shows a 50 per cent drop in demand.

"This is a larger drop than the 33 per cent originally anticipated. Estimates of a 33 per cent drop were based on the experiences of other local authorities that introduced a charge. Based on previous demand it is clear that, as expected, under-reporting of rat problems is now occurring. It may be people are carrying out DIY treatments using over the counter products.

"In which case, there is always a danger that treatments are not being carried out effectively."

Concerns over an increase in rats were raised by some councillors when Sheffield's ruling Liberal Democrat administration announced its plans to introduce charges in February.

Labour member Gill Furniss who led calls for the policy to be dropped said yesterday: "It's hardly surprising that the number of rat call outs have gone down since the Lib Dems introduced this charge.

"In fact they have almost halved in comparison to this time last year. It makes you wonder how many more rats there are in the city since this charging was introduced.

"Labour criticised this policy from the outset, along with the independent National Association of Pest Technicians, who warned of the dangers that an increase in rats to the city could bring.

"However, the Lib Dems didn't listen and chose instead to ignore this expert advice. Sadly, we are now seeing the true impact of this awful decision." Doncaster Council started charging householders for rat-catching in 2009, and increased charges in April to 44 standard rate, 33 for those on benefits and 22 for pensioners.

Callouts have also decreased dramatically in the borough – from 3,088 in 2007/08 to 2,229 in 2009/10. Council chiefs said they believed the drop in reports was not because of charging.

Doncaster director of neighbourhoods and communities Jane Miller said: "We proactively work with the water companies to identify locations where sewer baiting can be used to control the rat population before they emerge onto the surface. This partnership has been successful in reducing rat numbers on the surface and we will continue to target these 'hot spots'. While we are charging for pest control services, our prices represent good value for money and are significantly cheaper than the private sector."

Rotherham Council and Barnsley Council levy a charge on commercial premises and landlords but do not charge domestic home owners and yesterday said they have no plans to do so.

A Rotherham Council spokesman said: "We do charge for some pests, like mice and cockroaches, but rats are considered to be a number one health threat so the service is free."