Where is Larry the Downing Street cat when you need him? New figures show Parliament is spending almost £6,000 per month trying to control pests such as rats and mice.
According to a Freedom of Information response the total spend during the last financial year on pest control for the Houses of Parliament (and we’re not talking about the 650 MPs) rose to £73,552.
As well as traps for rats and mice there is also a hawk that patrols Westminster to scare off pigeons which costs nearly £14,000 a year.
Parliament has also released a document showing month-by-month mouse sightings. In January 2013, 41 mice were spotted, the second highest figure on record. By March this was down to 15 sightings but by June, the last available figure, it had crept back up to 24.
According to the FoI response: “Rat sightings are not recorded as rodents are often reported as rats when they are in fact mice, and to the knowledge of the Parliamentary Estates Directorate there is no rat problem on the Estate.”
