Biosecurity Minister Lord Benyon said:

“Bovine TB is one of the most difficult and intractable animal health challenges that the UK faces today, causing considerable trauma for farmers and costing taxpayers over £100 million every year. 

“The widespread vaccination of badgers is a key cornerstone of our strategy to eradicate TB by 2038, with our new and simplified licence allowing more farmers and vaccination groups to join the fight against this insidious disease.” 

Natural England will continue to undertake visits to check that vaccination projects are complying with the conditions of the licence and follow the best practice guide. 

Today’s announcement forms part of the Government’s long-term strategy to eradicate bovine TB in England by 2038, which outlined plans to bring in badger and cattle vaccination alongside other measures. 

The licence has been published online and those interested can register now. They will need to provide information about their training experience and can expect a decision within just 48 hours. If successful, they will be able to start vaccinating badgers on land where they have the landowner’s permission to do so straightaway and can report their activity in real-time through a new smartphone app, developed by the Worldwide Veterinary Service.  

In response Adam Grogan, Head of the Wildlife Department at the RSPCA said: “The RSPCA recognises Defra’s willingness to make it easier for trained people to vaccinate badgers, because it may reduce bTB in badgers, but if the aim of Defra’s policy is to eliminate bTB in cattle, then the focus should be on cattle-based measures since research shows that the overwhelming majority of bTB comes from cattle infecting cattle. 

“The RSPCA has always maintained that the elimination of bTB in cattle requires more frequent and improved cattle testing, better management of cattle movements and incentives to improve biosecurity in herds. We believe that badger vaccination is an important tool that has a role to play in certain situations as an alternative to culling and to protect badger populations but we cannot support its use as an exit strategy from the badger cull which should be ended immediately. 

“The vaccination of cattle will also have an important role to play; we are pleased field trials are ongoing in this area and we urge Defra to roll out cattle vaccination as soon as possible. We also urge the Government to complete and publish a full review of the data supporting their current policy.

“Bovine TB is a devastating disease for farmers because they see their cattle destroyed and their business restricted. However, scientific evidence shows that badgers avoid cattle where possible and indicates that the role they play in spreading bovine TB is vastly overestimated. 

“We are calling on the Government in England to immediately end culling, fast track its proposed improvements to cattle based measures, along with cattle and badger vaccination, which will be the best solution for badgers, cattle and farmers.”