My wife phoned up the Council for the rat catcher to call. [This will be the second time they will have had to call, this year. NO CHARGE THE LAST TIME, but the rats are back. Maybe they were on holiday.
My wife was told there is now a charge of £32.00 for this service to ALL house holders? AS OF THE 1ST OF April 2009. [This isn't an April fool!]
I have asked our Councillors to comment on this as it may affect all of the community at some time or other.
I thought no doubt like others did that this was included in the rates/council tax paid by all. But it seems that it no longer is. I have also asked if some one could tell us when this change was agreed and by who?

When will our Councillors Stop thinking of ways to take more money from the residents of Stirling. This service was included in our local taxes before why the change? I for one would like to know which of our Councillors voted for this additional charge to the public and why these charges were made.

How much can it cost to run this service? Do we not pay enough in rates, or should I say rats.

Below is update from L Fisher, I would like to thank her for this information.

I have asked our Councillors to provide the ACTUAL cost savings that are expected by the Council for putting this service COST on to the Householder.

With a bit of luck this will be available for the next CC meeting.
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On Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 4:30 PM, Leslie Fisher wrote:

Mr Cattigan

Councillor McPherson has asked me to respond directly to parts of your email which are covered Environmental Health.

At the meeting of Stirling Council on 19 February, as part of a wider budget saving exercise, a decision was made to start making a charge of £32 for the provision of a Pest Control Service for rodents in domestic premises.

There has alway been a charge for the treatment of commercial premises, at present this is typically £60.50.

Regarding the cost of the Service, Stirling Council have two officers fulfilling the combined roles of Pest Control and Dog warden Service. There is therefore a full time equivalent of one member of staff for Pest Control. While this level of staffing is sufficient for the quieter times of the year, in the summer (and for holidays and sickness) we have an arrangement for assistance from a private contractor.

There is no requirement for the local authority to provide any Pest Control service and it is common for a charge to be made. I can advise that our charges are in line with those made by other charging authorities and are substantially less than those made by commercial companies. Allowing for the free concessions, our income is typically less than our costs.

Hope this clarifies matters.

I have a friend who has found wasps in a tree in the garden, they phoned up the Council and were told that the charge would be £32.00.

It seems that the community will have to pay for everything at an extra
cost.

I am sure our Councillors will be able to tell all what the savings will be for the Council and what the additional cost will have been to the Community.

At the next CC meeting.

If the communities do not use the Council because of these additional charges, will this then mean that there is not enough work for those employed and the Council can pay off one of the employees?
Do we not pay enough in council tax?

Why do we pay rates? then again I see the council have informed all it is not part of the duties of a council to do this.
Well Stirling Council have done this up until now, which of our Councillors voted for this cost to be passed to the commuity?

Update from Margaret;-
This was an additional charge that came in at last budget [ for rats / mice]and it was anticipated that it would bring in an income of around £15.000.
The charge for dealing with wasps isn’t new. This is a discretionary service i.e. not one the Council must provide but chooses to provide.

Can I thank Margaret for clarifying the additional income, this would generate for the Council, from the Residents of Stirling.

A little bit of information gathered from SC website, there are about 40,000 homes paying rates, if only 1pence per week of this was put to pay for someone to catch/rats/mices wasps etc. [ 50 pence per year from each house.]

This would provide £20.000 to pay for this person. [ + the addition charges at present to local companies.]

It’s hard to believe that this charge is being imposed on those that may have the need for the service. It seems that this council is out to impose as many charges as possible to the community.