Campaigners say new Falkirk rat control service should not just be for council tenants
dailyrecord.co.ukCampaigners say a new rat control service being provided to Falkirk Council tenants should be made more widely available. Falkirk Council announced this week that its 16,000 tenants can call on the free service to get rid of rats where necessary.
However, the funding for the new service is coming from the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) - which is mainly funded by rents rather than council tax.
The HRA is ring-fenced by statute and strictly monitored so any spending has to be for the benefit of tenants only. Read more: Falkirk Council 'could and should have been better' at handling complaint The council says the pilot scheme recognises its responsibilities as a landlord and the contract, with Contego Environmental Services Ltd, will be reviewed after a year and tenants will be consulted to see how effective it has been.Sharron McKean, co-founder of Falkirk District Action Group (FDAG), which has campaigned for the return of a pest control service, says that while the new service is welcome, it doesn't go far enough.She says she has been getting lots of calls from Falkirk district residents dealing with rats and providing the service for tenants alone won't be enough.The council has been under pressure to reinstate its chargeable pest control service, which was scrapped as part of cost-cutting measures in 2022.Councillors voted to remove the service, saying it was "expensive to operate, and it duplicated the good quality and often cheaper services provided by private companies to residents".Members of FDAG held a public meeting to raise the issue and many of those attending were council tenants who said the fees charged by private contractors were impossible for people on low incomes to pay.Sharron said: "It is very
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