Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman today announced that two trial culls of badgers in England would go ahead as planned. Speaking after Prime Minister’s Questions this afternoon, Spelman announced that the proposed pilot culls form the next stage of the bovine TB eradication programme.

The culls will aim to reduce the instance of bovine TB in areas where it is endemic; in the South West, 23 per cent of cattle farms were affected by movement restrictions in 2010. Defra estimates they will cost each group of farmers £1.4million per cull area, with pilots beginning in early autumn 2012.

Two pilots, carried out over a period of six weeks, will be conducted in the chosen areas. Spelman said the trials will be closely managed and monitored to ensure the culls are "safe, effective and humane." An independent panel of experts will be asked to oversee and evaluate the pilots and report to Ministers, before a decision is made on whether to roll out the policy more widely.

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The Defra chief also assured that cattle measures, including routine testing and pre-movement testing, remain the foundation of the bTB eradication programme and pledged to invest £20million over the next 5 years to develop oral vaccines. Critics of the cull have said that more stringent cattle measures would have a greater effect at a smaller cost; cattle-to-cattle transmission is thought to be responsible for 80 per cent of the disease’s spread.

The Defra secretary today said something must be done, as TB infection rates are increasing in England and the disease is having a marked effect on the farming community. She said, "Ultimately we want to be able to vaccinate both cattle and badgers, but useable and approved vaccines are still years away."

Trial cull details announced

Farmers wishing to carry out a cull will have to join together to form limited companies which puts aside in a bank account four years costs of the culling programme plus a 25% contngency. But for now farmers are invited to subnit a short list of areas in which to carry out the pilot cull. Natural England will issue guidance notes tomorrow. From a shortlist of areas, Defra will select two in which trial culls will be conducted. If the trials are found to work, Spelman said Defra would select ten new areas each year to begin culling.

Spelman reiterated that she expects the trials will reduce the instance of bTB by 16 per cent in cull areas. The areas will be surrounded by natural boundaries to minimise the perturbation effect, whereby infected badgers fleeing the cull area spread disease to the surrounding area.  

In response to questions about the controversial ‘free shooting’ method which will be adopted in the trials, the Environment Secretary pointed out that the method had been used with some success on other wildlife populations and opined that she had "reasonable confidence" in its efficacy. She said markspeople killing badgers would require deerstalking level one proficiency and would receive additional training on badger physiology.

Announcement draws criticism

However, MPs’ responses to the announcement revealed the degree of controversy over the issue. One vociferous backbencher strongly objected, denouncing Defra’s plans as being "Founded on greed and bad science."

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Shadow environment secretary Mary Creagh pronounced a cull would be "Bad news for wildlife, bad news for farmers and bad news for the taxpayer." She accused Caroline Spelman of having "Turned her back on the scientific advice." Ms Creagh went on to assert that the present plans were not science-led, as Defra claims. She demanded, "We have to ask ourselves four questions; is it science led? Is it cost effective? Is it humane? Will it work?"

The shadow secretary said that, as free shooting at night has never been scientifically assessed and no data exists to show whether it is effective or humane, the government cannot claim the cull will be either of these things.  

She also claimed there is "no scientific baseline" on badger numbers which Defra will work from. The government announced this week that it would conduct a national badger survey, to assess numbers in the wild. Mary Creagh questioned whether this should not have been undertaken before a decision was passed. She said the government could not guarantee badgers would not be eradicated from a given area and risked incurring fines under the Bern convention.

Finally, Creagh challenged Spelman on the costs associated with the cull. She said that, although Defra had pledged to support farmers to the tune of 25 per cent if a member of the company defaulted or sold up before the four year cull period was over, the lack of definite figures on cost meant these assurances were potentially worrying for both farmers and taxpayers.

She also questioned whether Natural England, which lost 500 staff as a result of the comprehensive spending review, would be able to deliver the licensing and oversight required and whether local police forces, which also face severe cuts, would be able to meet the challenges a cull would pose.

The British veterinary Association offered its support for the move, which it said represents a "major step" forward in tackling Bovine TB.

Although veterinary groups have welcomed the news of today’s announcement, conservationists have condemned the plans. David Williams, Chairman of the Badger Trust said, "We are clearly very disappointed by this decision but now that it has been made, we will be studying it with our legal advisors to determine what action we shall take."

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