Glue Traps (Offences) Bill passes third and final reading in England

The Bill to restrict glue trap use in England has passed its third and final reading in the House of Lords unopposed and with no amendments.

The Bill will now go for Royal Assent ahead of the Queen’s speech, which is expected to be on Tuesday, May 10.

If the Bill does not get Royal Assent before the Queen’s speech, then the whole process has to begin again, however at this stage that seems unlikely.

The Bill as it stands would make it an offence for a person to:

• Set a glue trap if the intention was to kill rodents or if they knew it could kill a rodent;
• Allow or permit someone else to set the trap; and
• In addition, if a person passing saw such a trap and did nothing about it, this would also be an offence.

BPCA fought for an exemption for pest controllers, and this amendment remains in the Bill after its third reading in the House of Lords.

This will be managed through a licensing regime, although the details of that regime are yet to be decided.

Ian Andrew, BPCA chief executive, said: “We’ve already put our best foot forward and begun initial conversations with stakeholders ahead of the Bill becoming law.

“We’ll be continuing those while the details of any glue trap licensing scheme are formed, as it’s critical that pest management has a voice during the building of any new licensing system that affects our industry.”

There is expected to be at least a two-year period between the Bill becoming law and when offences will apply, in order for a suitable licensing regime to be put in place.

What has the pest control industry been doing to protect the use of rodent glue boards?

• The Pest Management Alliance (PMA) has been working hard to preserve the use of rodent glue boards by trained professional pest controllers
• The PMA, comprising the BPCA, NPTA and CIEH, have a key role in stewardship of rodent glue boards
• Government was lobbied to consider the continued use of glue boards for pest management professionals
• The NPTA, in consultation with the BPCA through the PMA, have been asking members to state their opinion on the bill. They have held consultation meetings and launched a member poll to ascertain members viewpoints.
• The BPCA have run a ‘Save Professional Glue Boards’ survey and talked to members and lobbyists
• The PMA ‘code of best practice – humane use of rodent glue boards’ is to be followed by all professional pest controllers
• Best practice in the humane use of rodent glue boards is featured in relevant training courses for the industry

Killgerm Training offer free training ‘Rodent glue boards: best practice’ HERE