MK Council's Progressive Alliance has responded that investment into pest control has already been doubled.
Local Conservative councillors are arguing that it is time to equip an operational team to tackle the growing rat and pest problems afflicting areas across Milton Keynes.
There have been recent reports of rats in Milton Keynes estates with one councillor taking to a local Facebook group encouraging residents to report this to the Environmental team.
Last year, MKFM reported that Lockdowns had seen rat populations move from the city centre to different areas across Milton Keynes.
Local Conservatives say that the Council should be committed to spending £120k in the budget and supporting areas suffering from rat infestations.
They added that that "MK Council has had its eye off the ball". Cllr Alex Walker, Leader of the Conservative Group, said:“For a growing city that already suffers from missed waste collections and excessive littering, it is no wonder that rat infestations are becoming more common.
"The Council needs to take a leading role in tackling this issue. Their current plan will not be enough to deal with it. We want to double the planned budget so there can be a properly resourced team that can be proactive in dealing with the issue, rather than reactive.”
A spokesperson for Milton Keynes Council's Progressive Alliance told MKFM that they have doubled their investment in pest control and the amount of £120,000 has in fact been proposed, despite Conservative's claims.
The spokesperson said: “Despite what the Conservative Group may claim, the Progressive Alliance has doubled its investment in pest control in the 22/23 budget, proposing £120,000 to tackle rats.
“Working in partnership with Luton Council’s specialist pest control team, we have successfully reduced the rat population in the past year while delivering value for money. Bait boxes and regular street cleaning have proved effective, although we know that the best way to eradicate rats is to remove their food source. This means that wheelie bins and continued weekly collections will be the most effective weapon to tackle the problem going forward.
“Yet again, the Conservatives are recycling year-old stories to help them shape their policies that simply don’t make sense. It is unclear if they are supporting the Labour and Liberal Democrats’ programme, or trying to claim the success as their own, but The Progressive Alliance will continue to put people before politics and deliver what our residents need.”
