House of Commons - Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Thirteenth Report

1 Introduction

1. Bovine tuberculosis (TB) is caused by the bacterium mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis). It is endemic in the United Kingdom, although measures to control it - for human health, animal health and economic reasons - have been taken in the past which have apparently kept it under control. In the late 1970s the number of tested herds in which cattle tested positive for M. bovis fell below 1 percent. Since then the proportion of infected herds has risen, and sharply since around 1990. Now around 6 percent of herds tested include cattle which test positive.[1]

2. In 1996, faced with a continuing increase in infection rates, the Government asked Professor Sir John Krebs to review scientific knowledge of bovine TB.[2] His report was published in December 1997.[3] It concluded that

the sum of evidence strongly supports the view that, in Britain, badgers are a significant source of infection in cattle… It is not, however, possible to state quantitatively what contribution badgers make to cattle infection, because the relevant data have not been collected and analysed.

3. Professor Krebs recommended that the Government should gather that data. Specifically his report said that it should conduct a trial to compare three approaches: proactive culling of badgers, reactive culling following the identification of TB in cattle and no culling. Thirty areas measuring 10km by 10km should be identified in which the trial should take place. This Randomised Badger Culling Trial should be overseen by an independent group of experts (eventually established as the Independent Scientific Group (ISG), chaired by Professor John Bourne). While the trial continued culling should not be instigated outside the trial areas.

4. The recommendations of the Krebs report, however, were not restricted to the culling trial. It also said that "simple husbandry methods to separate badgers and cattle could have a significant role in reducing risk", and noted that current Government guidelines "are apparently not widely heeded by the farming industry". The report said that the farming industry should compare the impact of a number of simple husbandry techniques. Government should provide advice and analysis and encourage the adoption of best practice.

5. Professor Krebs also noted that in the long run control of bovine TB would best be achieved through the development of a vaccine for cattle and an associated diagnostic test to distinguish infected from vaccinated cattle. He said that work in these areas should be a high priority for the Government's long term research strategy. He also said that development of a badger vaccine should also be kept as an option.

Our previous inquiries

6. Our interest in the challenge posed by bovine tuberculosis (bovine TB) dates back over many years. In 1999 our predecessor Committee published a report into Badgers and Bovine Tuberculosis which considered the Government's application of the Krebs recommendations and specifically its research and control strategy to tackle TB in cattle.[4] In 2000 it published a report following up progress made.[5]

7. Following our establishment in 2001 we continued our interest in the matter. We again examined developments in an inquiry into Badgers and Bovine TB, completed in April 2003.[6] On 10 December 2003 we took evidence from the Minister for Nature Conservation and the Chair of the ISG following the announcement that the culling in the reactive areas of the badger culling trial was to be abandoned.[7]

The context now

8. The context for our new inquiry was set by two related factors. First, there has been a growing campaign, particularly in the farming press, for more urgent Government action to control bovine TB.[8] Amongst farmers in particular there has been a loss of confidence in the Government's approach, as a number of stakeholders have voiced their concerns.[9] Second, the Secretary of State announced at the National Farmers' Union (NFU) AGM in February 2003 that the Government would review its bovine TB strategy.[10] The outcome of the review has been a consultation paper, issued in February 2004, on a new bovine TB strategy.[11]

9. There is no doubt that the problem of bovine TB has grown since the Krebs report was published in 1997. The Government has presented figures which demonstrate how the incidence of the disease has increased in recent years.

10. However, the Minister pointed out that "there has been a drop in the last two years, a small drop in every region, including in the south west".[12] He cited figures which showed that when the period January to March 2004 was compared to the same period a year before "the number of new TB incidents was down 14.2 percent … 1,264 against 1,473",[13] although he has subsequently said that it is too soon to say whether the number of incidents has peaked.[14] Indeed this recent good news must be seen in the context of a much wider geographical spread of the disease, resulting in mounting worry amongst farmers in areas both with and without the disease.

Our new inquiry

11. Although they covered other matters our previous inquiries had tended to focus on the Randomised Badger Culling Trial and associated matters such as the survey of badgers involved in road traffic accidents. In this inquiry we deliberately set out to look at the other recommendations of the Krebs report. In short our aim was to look forward, rather than to dwell on the rather stale arguments of the past. We decided that our terms of reference should be:

To consider solutions to the problem of bovine TB, including particularly progress made towards developing a vaccine. The Committee will consider a number of other matters, including the experience of Ireland, and the role played by trace elements.[15]

12. We began our inquiry on 20 April 2004 by inviting interested parties to submit evidence. In the event we received 13 memoranda. On 26 May we took oral evidence, from Professor Doug Young, Defra's bovine TB vaccine adviser, Mr Alick Simmons, a senior civil servant from Defra, and Dr Chris Cheeseman from the Central Science Laboratory's Woodchester Park badger establishment, and then from the Minister for Nature Conservation and Fisheries, and Professor John Bourne, Chair of the Independent Science Group on bovine TB. We are most grateful to all those who gave evidence to our inquiry.

1 Preparing for a new GB strategy on bovine tuberculosis, Defra consultation document, February 2004, Figure 2, p.16 Back

2 HC Deb, 23 July 1996, col.262 Back

3 An executive summary can be found on the Defra website, at www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/publications/krebs.htm Back

4 Agriculture Committee, HC (1998-99) 233 Back

5 Agriculture Committee, Badgers and Bovine Tuberculosis: Follow-up, HC (2000-01) 92 Back

6 HC (2002-03) 432; see also the Government reply (HC (2002-03) 831) Back

7 HC (2003-04) 124-I; see also Minister announces the suspension of badger culling in reactive areas of the Randomised Badger Culling Trial, Defra press release 457/03, 4 November 2003 Back

8 See the Target TB campaign launched by Farmers Weekly, 13 February 2003 Back

9 See, for example, the following stories in Farmers Weekly Interactive (www.fwi.co.uk): Gill calls for end of Krebs trial, 16 February 2004; Badgers to blame for TB - Farmers Union of Wales, 2 March 2004; Countryside Council for Wales not impressed by TB trials, 8 March 2004; Farmers left to shoulder TB brunt, 1 June 2004; and CLA slams badger policy, 8 June 2004. Back

10 Rt Hon Margaret Beckett MP, Secretary of State, Speech to National Farmers' Union annual conference, 18 February 2003; see www.defra.gov.uk Back

11 Preparing for a new GB Strategy on bovine tuberculosis, Defra consultation document, February 2004 Back

12 Q77 Back