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PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control (16 March 2021)

Question Asked

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress has been made on bringing forward legislative proposals to ban new licences for badger culling in England.

Asked by:
Darren Jones (Labour)

Answer

In January 2021 we launched a consultation on the next phase of bovine TB eradication strategy as part of our objective for TB-free status in England by 2038. The consultation includes proposals to stop issuing intensive cull licences for new areas after 2022 and could see new four-year licences, after two-years of culling, be revoked after a progress evaluation by the Chief Veterinary Officer.

The consultation also includes proposals to restrict supplementary badger control licences to two years and to prohibit the issuing of new licences for areas licensed after 2020.

The consultation closes on 24 March 2021 and a government response and next steps will be published thereafter. Changes to the intensive and supplementary cull licences will be implemented by Natural England through revised guidance from Defra, which we are also consulting on. Details can be found at https://consult.defra.gov.uk/bovine-tb-2020/eradication-of-btb-england/.


Answered by:
Victoria Prentis (Conservative)
24 March 2021

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