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1124409

	registered interest
	date	01/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many cattle have been tested positive for bovine tuberculosis and then following slaughter have been negative on post-mortem testing; and what progress has been made in producing an accurate test before cattle are slaughtered.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Golding
	uin	HL15458
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2019 answer text <p>The early detection and removal of tuberculosis (TB)-infected cattle before they develop advanced pathology and/or clinical signs of the disease (and thus become highly infectious) is a key element of bovine TB eradication programmes, including England’s 25 Year Bovine TB Strategy. To that effect, we use ante-mortem tests that measure the animals’ immune response to infection with the bovine TB bacterium (<em>Mycobacterium bovis – M. bovis</em>), rather than rely on direct detection methods.</p><p> </p><p>The single intradermal comparative cervical tuberculin (SICCT) test, commonly known as the ‘skin test’, together with the interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA), is the legal standard approved in the EU legislation for the diagnosis of TB in live cattle in the UK. As with cases of TB in humans, only a proportion of those animals infected with <em>M. bovis</em> and reacting to a tuberculin skin test or IGRA display gross lesions of TB when subjected to post-mortem meat inspection in the slaughterhouse.</p><p> </p><p>In 2017 (the last year for which an analysis of post-mortem findings is available), approximately 60% of the 32,000 cattle compulsorily removed for bovine TB control reasons in England as skin test reactors or IGRA positives did not have visible lesions of TB on post-mortem and were also negative for <em>M. bovis</em> on bacteriological culture (where performed).</p><p> </p><p>Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) are constantly striving for new ways to maximise the effectiveness of TB testing of cattle to achieve the objectives of the Strategy. APHA may exceptionally authorise the private use of non-validated diagnostic tests for bovine TB in herds where the disease is persistent, in order to help detect additional infected animals that may have been missed by the approved official tests (rather than to negate a positive result to such tests). A policy position paper on non-validated diagnostics for TB in cattle is now available on the APHA Vet Gateway (<a href="http://apha.defra.gov.uk/vet-gateway/index.htm" target="_blank">http://apha.defra.gov.uk/vet-gateway/index.htm</a>).</p><p> </p><p>Over £4 million was allocated to TB research and development in 2018/19, with the anticipation of a similar spend this financial year. The majority of these finds are being invested in improving diagnostic tests alongside vaccine development. However, validation for a new test to World Organisation for Animal Health standards would only lead to official adoption if it demonstrated proven advantages in the detection of disease alongside the current test portfolio.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 16/05/2019 16:25:10 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	281 label Biography information for Baroness Golding

1202615

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2020
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	Her Majesty's Government what is their policy and detailed programme on badger culling and other means of controlling tuberculosis in badgers over the next five years.
	tabling member printed	Lord Greaves
	uin	HL5514
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2020 answer text <p>The Government remains committed to the goal of achieving Officially Free bovine TB status for the whole of England by 2038.</p><p> </p><p>On 5 March 2020, the Government published its response to Professor Sir Charles Godfray's 2018 review of England's bovine TB eradication strategy, setting out the priorities for the next phase of the strategy around three key priorities.</p><p> </p><p>We will provide funding to accelerate the research and trial work necessary to authorise the BCG vaccine for use in cattle alongside a test that can differentiate between vaccinated cattle and those with the disease. Our aim is to have a deployable cattle vaccine within the next five years. Vaccination will never provide full protection but could significantly reduce the spread of the disease both between cattle and between cattle herds and wildlife. The UK can harness its world-leading science in developing solutions such as vaccination that would also be valuable to other countries.</p><p> </p><p>Secondly, we will also begin an exit strategy from intensive badger culling, while ensuring that wildlife control remains an option where the epidemiological evidence supports it (i.e. areas where badgers pose a significant source of TB infection). We intend to pilot government-funded badger vaccination in at least one area where the four-year cull cycle has concluded, with simultaneous surveillance of disease. We envisage that any remaining areas would join the current cull programme in the next few years and that the badger cull phase of the strategy would then wind down by the mid to late 2020s.</p><p> </p><p>We will continue to support badger vaccination projects in areas where the prevalence of disease is low. We will also investigate the potential for projects where adjacent vaccination and culling could complement each other in controlling disease. Changes to our guidance to Natural England on licensing badger control will be subject to consultation.</p><p> </p><p>Thirdly, we will invest in the deployment of better, more frequent, and more diverse cattle testing, so that we are able to detect the presence of the disease earlier and remove it from cattle herds faster. The frequency of mandatory surveillance testing in two high risk area counties – Shropshire and Staffordshire – will increase from annual to six-monthly as soon as the COVID-19 situation allows. We expect this to be extended across the high risk area from 2021.</p><p> </p><p>There is no single answer to tackling the scourge of bovine TB but by deploying a range of policy interventions, we can turn the tide on this terrible disease and achieve our long-term objective of eradicating it by 2038.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 24/06/2020 10:27:14 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	2569 label Biography information for Lord Greaves

1233555

	registered interest
	date	10/09/2020
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the likely perturbation effect on the spread of bovine tuberculosis following the extension of the badger culling programme to Derbyshire, Oxfordshire, Lincolnshire and Leicestershire.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
	uin	HL8011
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/09/2020 answer text <p>Applicants for a licence to cull badgers to control the spread of bovine TB (bTB) must meet Natural England's strict licensing criteria, which specifically includes measures to guard against the potential risk of perturbation effects as a result of disturbed badger social groups.</p><p> </p><p>The independent, peer-reviewed academic study into the effectiveness of badger culling (Downs et al. (2019) Nature Scientific Reports) which showed a decline in bTB incidence in the first two cull areas of Gloucestershire and Somerset, also showed a lack of evidence of a 'perturbation effect' in these areas, unlike the findings of the Randomised Badger Culling Trial, where culling led to an increase in bTB incidence rates outside of cull areas.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 21/09/2020 15:02:10 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1241946

	registered interest
	date	08/10/2020
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the success of badger tuberculosis vaccine trials; what impact the outcome of those trials had on their decision making process as to whether to extend and expand the badger cull; and how they intend to monitor the effects of that cull on future vaccination trials.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
	uin	HL8904
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/10/2020 answer text <p>The effects of badger vaccination by injection have been evaluated in several captive experimental studies and during a four-year field study in Gloucestershire. Although vaccination with BCG will not guarantee protection from infection, meaning some badgers may still become infected, these studies provide evidence of beneficial effects. In particular, they provide evidence that vaccination reduces the likelihood of badgers developing lesions or excreting TB bacteria and the rate of new infections. The studies also indicate that vaccinating more than one third of adults in a badger social group reduces new infections in unvaccinated badger cubs. It is therefore reasonable to assume that badger vaccination will reduce transmission from badgers to cattle.</p><p> </p><p>Government policy has enabled farmers and landowners to apply for licences to cull or to vaccinate badgers. In its response to the Godfray Review, the Government has set out its ambition to move from badger culling to wider deployment of vaccination, with culling only taking place where surveillance in badgers and cattle indicates re-emerging or persistent infection. In areas where culling has been successfully deployed to reduce the amount of TB infection, we are now proposing to increase deployment of badger vaccination.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 20/10/2020 10:39:53 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1249815

	registered interest
	date	09/11/2020
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government why they took two years to publish the reports by Professor Malcolm Bennett and Professor Chris Palgrave A study into the prevalence of bTB in found-dead badgers in the southern ‘Edge Area’ counties of England, SE3054, published June 2018; and what plans they have to respond to the report's conclusions.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
	uin	HL10044
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/11/2020 answer text <p>It is Defra policy to encourage research findings such as these to be published in a peer-reviewed journal. We elected to delay the publication of the final reports on our website to allow the researcher some time to do this without undermining the peer review process.</p><p> </p><p>These data are being used to inform analysis of where there is a reservoir of disease in the Edge area.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 23/11/2020 16:09:20 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1275989

	registered interest
	date	12/01/2021
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent steps they have taken to implement the recommendations of the report by Sir Charles Godfray A strategy for achieving Bovine Tuberculosis Free Status for England: 2018 Review, published on 13 November 2018.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick
	uin	HL12065
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/01/2021 answer text <p>In March 2020, the Government published its response to Professor Sir Charles Godfray’s 2018 review of England’s bovine TB (bTB) eradication strategy. Sir Charles’ review set out a number of potential options for the future.</p><p> </p><p>The Government response sets out our top priorities for the next five years. The steps we have taken in 2020 to start to deliver this next phase of the strategy include:</p><p> </p><ul><li>Accelerating our cattle vaccination work by appointing a Clinical Research Organisation to run cattle vaccination field trials. The aim of these trials is to support applications for UK marketing authorisations of the vaccine and a test to detect infected animals among vaccinated animals.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Evolving our badger control policy, including tendering for a farmer-delivered project in East Sussex to vaccinate badgers against TB, and publishing a map showing the estimated distribution of TB infection in badgers in England’s bTB Edge Area.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Improving our TB testing programme, through awarding £500,000 funding for innovative research to diagnose bTB more quickly, and starting to increase the default frequency of mandatory surveillance TB testing of cattle across England’s bTB High Risk Area from annual to every six-months, with some exceptions for lower risk herds.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Evolving and strengthening partnership working though recruiting for a new Bovine TB Partnership to replace the existing Bovine TB Eradication Advisory Group for England.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Work is ongoing and we plan to announce further steps in due course.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 25/01/2021 14:47:20 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	4130 label Biography information for Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

1520881

	registered interest
	date	11/10/2022
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government under what conditions badger culls would be extended beyond 2025; and what evidence would be required before a decision on extension is made.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
	uin	HL2484
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/10/2022 answer text <p>Controlling TB in wildlife reservoirs, specifically badgers, makes up part of the package of measures of Defra's bovine TB eradication strategy, with the aim of achieving Officially TB Free status for England by 2038.</p><p>As part of the next phase of the strategy, HM Government will now evolve its approach and gradually move on from intensive badger culling over the next few years. Localised badger culling will remain an option where epidemiological assessment indicates that it is needed. The detailed proposal for epidemiologically led culling is currently under development.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 24/10/2022 12:22:42 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
	tabling member	3792 label Biography information for Baroness Jones of Whitchurch

1520166

	registered interest
	date	10/10/2022
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total cost of the badger cull in England in each year since 2012, including (1) costs to government departments, (2) costs to farmers, and (3) policing costs.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
	uin	HL2427
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2022 answer text <p>Badger cull operation costs incurred by HM Government are published annually on GOV.UK at: <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fpublications%2Fbovine-tb-government-badger-control-costs&amp;data=05%7C01%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7C518a382046104f40155208dab832b40f%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638024825154834174%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=3F%2BI%2FhJcEyphJ383BOArxXYsU3Iy0l6OMFTTYCfS8sU%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bovine-tb-government-badger-control-costs</a>.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Badger control costs</p></td><td><p><strong>2013</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2014</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2015</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2016</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2018</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2019</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2020</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Government costs (excl. police)</p></td><td><p>£6.3m</p></td><td><p>£3.1m</p></td><td><p>£1.8m</p></td><td><p>£2.4m</p></td><td><p>£2.6m</p></td><td><p>£2.1m</p></td><td><p>£2.2m</p></td><td><p>£2.2m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Policing costs</p></td><td><p>£3.5m</p></td><td><p>£1.4m</p></td><td><p>£1.8m</p></td><td><p>£3m</p></td><td><p>£4m</p></td><td><p>£3.2m</p></td><td><p>£3.66m</p></td><td><p>£4m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>£9.8m</p></td><td><p>£4.5m</p></td><td><p>£3.6m</p></td><td><p>£5.4m</p></td><td><p>£6.6m</p></td><td><p>£5.3m</p></td><td><p>£5.86m</p></td><td><p>£6.2m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Number of areas</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>21</p></td><td><p>32</p></td><td><p>43</p></td><td><p>54</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total costs per area</p></td><td><p>£4.9m</p></td><td><p>£2.3m</p></td><td><p>£1.2m</p></td><td><p>£0.5m</p></td><td><p>£0.3m</p></td><td><p>£0.17m</p></td><td><p>£0.14m</p></td><td><p>£0.14m</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Badger cull operations did not take place in 2012, therefore no costs were incurred that year.</p><p> </p><p>Badger cull operations are an industry-led initiative, therefore the costs to industry are not published or known by HM Government.</p><p> </p><p>HM Government costs for 2021 will be published in due course.</p><p> </p><p>To put the badger cull operational costs into perspective, below are the annual compensation costs for cattle culled to control spread of bovine TB during the same period.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Cattle compensation costs</p></td><td><p><strong>2013</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2014</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2015</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2016</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2018</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2019</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2020</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>£31.4m</p></td><td><p>£30.5m</p></td><td><p>£29.9m</p></td><td><p>£27m</p></td><td><p>£37m</p></td><td><p>£35.3m</p></td><td><p>£32.2m</p></td><td><p>£30.8m</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 27/10/2022 16:14:07 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
	tabling member	3792 label Biography information for Baroness Jones of Whitchurch

1520880

	registered interest
	date	11/10/2022
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total cost to the taxpayer of controlling bovine tuberculosis since 2012; and what analysis they have made of these costs.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
	uin	HL2483
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/10/2022 answer text <p>Defra’s net expenditure on bovine tuberculosis (bTB) eradication in England since 2012 is set out in the table below.</p><p> </p><p>For the financial year 2016/17, the lower figure shown is mainly due to a difference in the handling of salvage income rather than any cut in TB control expenditure in real terms.</p><p> </p><p>For the financial years after 2016/17 the figures do not include the substantial, but separately costed, expenditure made by the Animal and Plant Health Agency and its predecessor bodies, which are accounted for separately by the relevant executive Agencies. That includes expenditure on contracted out TB testing as well as the work of the Agency’s various veterinary, scientific, and administrative teams and associated operating and overhead costs. We estimate that the total costs to the taxpayer for bovine TB-related work in England have remained at around £100 million a year for each of the last 10 financial years.</p><p> </p><p>Defra’s bTB eradication strategy is working. A sustained <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fstatistics%2Fincidence-of-tuberculosis-tb-in-cattle-in-great-britain&amp;data=05%7C01%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7Ce0da6fda445b466f081908dab833363d%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638024827337338851%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=U1FdbcqdJAD4zNnc2xXiq7SwQCNXqI1nbGw90JvzVrY%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">downward trajectory in disease</a> is being seen in areas of England at highest risk of bTB (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/incidence-of-tuberculosis-tb-in-cattle-in-great-britain).</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Financial year</p></td><td><p>Amount</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012/2013</p></td><td><p>£96,000,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013/2014</p></td><td><p>£101,781,004</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014/2015</p></td><td><p>£92,944,731</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/2016</p></td><td><p>£90,396,214</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/2017</p></td><td><p>£19,324,857</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/2018</p></td><td><p>£36,192,349</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/2019</p></td><td><p>£37,625,125</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019/2020</p></td><td><p>£36,939,089</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020/2021</p></td><td><p>£31,635,562</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021/2022</p></td><td><p>£34,261,406</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>TOTAL</p></td><td><p>£577,100,337</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 28/10/2022 08:09:33 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
	tabling member	3792 label Biography information for Baroness Jones of Whitchurch

1581674

	registered interest
	date	30/01/2023
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the report by the Animal and Plant Health Agency Year End Descriptive Epidemiology Report: Bovine TV in the Edge Area of England 2021, County: Hampshire, published on 7 October 2022 and updated on 28 November 2022, and (2) the implications for their policy on the timing of the badger cull in Hampshire; and what steps they will take to end the badger cull in that county as a result of the findings in that report that "badgers only accounted for 11 per cent of weighted risk pathways".
	tabling member printed	Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb
	uin	HL5215
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/02/2023 answer text <p>We are committed to achieving official freedom from Bovine TB for England by 2038 and intensive badger culling in areas where badgers are an important factor in spreading disease to cattle has been an important part of this. The badger cull has led to a significant reduction of bTB in cattle herds, with research showing a 66% and 37% reduction of new herd breakdowns in the first two cull areas.</p><p> </p><p>Defra has published analysis by APHA on where in Edge Area counties, such as Hampshire, there is considered to be a local reservoir of infection. This analysis includes data from previous badger found dead surveys alongside information on cattle breakdowns and other sources: <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fpublications%2Fbovine-tb-local-reservoirs-of-mycobacterium-bovis-infection-in-the-edge-area-of-england&amp;data=05%7C01%7Ccomms.tb%40defra.gov.uk%7C270830e615d64e21be7308dae4d0abce%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638073882129977928%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=7YKqgsurqcB4bkEnLrl85PsK8BcYWd2IxEx%2BjG%2FwPK8%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Bovine TB: local reservoirs of Mycobacterium bovis infection in the Edge Area of England - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a>.</p><p> </p><p>Badger culls are licensed by the licensing authority Natural England (NE) who take local reservoirs into account. NE licensed the final intensive cull areas last year, and Government is gradually building government-supported badger vaccination and surveillance. Badger culling would remain an option where epidemiological assessment indicates that it is needed.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 13/02/2023 16:02:01 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon attachment 1 file name tb-local-reservoirs-mycobacterium-bovis-edge-area.pdf title Bovine TB: local reservoirs...
	tabling member	4297 label Biography information for Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb