§ Sir A. Bossomasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will prepare a nation-wide plan to help keep down the number of rats on farms.
§ Mr. Heathcoat AmoryLocal authorities are responsible for seeing that rats are kept down. Co-ordination is secured through regional and area committees and through a national joint standing consultative committee on which local authorities and other interests are represented.
Good progress in rat control in country districts has been made. About one-third of the farms in England and Wales are now inspected each year as compared with about one-twentieth in 1950, and of those inspected the proportion found badly infested has decreased from 17 per cent. to 5 per cent.