To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what statistics his Department collects on (a) the size of the rodent population and (b) incidences of vermin infestation in England. (202951)

DEFRA does not collect statistics on the size of rodent populations. DEFRA will shortly be publishing an interim report on rodent presence in domestic properties as revealed by the English House Condition Survey data for 2002-03 and 2003-04. Key findings are that the occurrences of rats inside and outside properties in these years are not significantly different from those observed in 2001.