Private householders in receipt of benefits will no longer be given a 50% discount on Pembrokeshire County Council’s pest control services, cabinet agreed today (Monday).

The move is one of several across the authority which aims to make services pay for themselves.

Tenants of council houses and of Pembrokeshire Housing Association homes however will continue to receive a free pest control service through a service level agreement.

But from April private tenants who are in receipt of Income Support, Job Seekers Allowance, Housing Benefit/Council Tax Benefit or Pension Credit Guarantee will no longer receive a 50% discount in what they have to pay the pest control service.

A report to cabinet by director of development, Dr Steven Jones, says that the move to Universal Credit will make it “extremely difficult” to determine those households that are in receipt of means tested benefits and that to continue the discount would be “administratively challenging”.

He also notes that the discount is not in line with other concessionary policies across the authority and that the issue will be monitored and reviewed.

“Officers have been trying to change the service rather than close it down and to move towards real cost recovery for 2017-18,” said cabinet member for environmental and regulatory services and the Welsh language, Huw George.

“We are trying to up the 48% of recovered costs as much as we can.”

He added that, for private tenants, there were measures to make landlords to pay for the cost of pest control.

Head of public protection, Mark Elliott added that up to half of local authorities no longer provide pest control services as it is not statutory.

“It is an important service but we really have to make it cost recovering so it’s not a drain on the council,” he said. “It is well valued by the people of Pembrokeshire. It’s something we can be proud of in terms of serving them and us as a county.”

He added that in the last few years the service had dealt with between 1500 and 1800 cases.

Cabinet agreed that, in the next financial year, the authority will charge between £78and £102 for pest control of rats and mice for the first two visits, with follow up visits costing £30.

All other treatments will cost £78 and advisory visits will cost £30. Free advice will still be available by phone and on the council’s website.

Business and agricultural contracts will be calculated on a case by case recovery basis.