To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to his answer of 16 January 2007, Official Report, column 979W, on rats, if he will break down the rat population in England by (a) region and (b) local authority area as indicated by the English House Condition Survey 2001. (129011)

The data on rodent infestation in domestic dwellings as revealed by the English House Condition Survey (EHCS) 2001 are broken down by region in the report “Rodent infestations in domestic properties in England, 2001”.

My Department does not have data on the rat population broken down by local authority. The EHCS data only provides an estimate of the proportion of dwellings with rat infestations inside or outside. It does not provide definitive data on numbers of rats.