§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the current cost of(a) research into the cause of bovine TB related to badgers and (b) the experimental culling programme for badgers. [38882]
§ Mr. RookerThe estimated cost of the MAFF TB research programme in the financial year 1997–98 was more than £1.7 million. Of this, about £1.2 million was concerned with understanding the relationship between TB in badgers and TB in cattle, and developing control methods to prevent transmission of TB to cattle. The research programme for 1998–99 is currently being finalised. I am not able to estimate the cost of the culling experiment until we have received the advice of the Expert Group looking at the design of the experiment, and decided how to proceed.