Letter submitted by Ben Bradshaw MP, Minister
for Local Environment, Marine and Animal Welfare, Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (BTB 36)
1. I welcome the Committee's decision to
consider the Government's consultation paper on badger culling
as a bovine TB control measure.
2. I was interested in the reports of the
discussions you had in your evidence session on 7 February, and
particularly the issues that were raised around the evidence from
the Independent Scientific Group on the Randomised Badger Culling
Trial. I agree that we need a clear view on issues such as the
impact that improved culling efficiency might have on the levels
of perturbation and disease incidence identified by the ISG. These
are interesting issues and critical to clarifying the evidence
on which we can base policy options and I would have wanted to
discuss them with you if I had been asked to give evidence.
For the record, the main questions I have asked the
ISG about their conclusions are:
Would an increase in culling efficiency be likely
to result in a larger overall beneficial effect on cattle herd
breakdown levels, and reduce the edge effect?
Is there likely to be a point at which increased
culling efficiency could deliver a reduction in herd breakdowns
which is more significant than the adverse impact in the areas
outside the culling zones? Could this point be modelled from RBCT
data?
What impact on herd breakdowns has there been within
the culling areas in areas where there has been no landowner consent
to cull? Is there evidence of internal edge effects?
Is there any evidence of perturbation from other
badger culling operations and, if so, did it translate into an
increase in cattle herd breakdowns?
February 2006
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