§ Mr. PaiceTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects to receive the report and advice from the Expert Group under Professor Bourne's chairmanship regarding the implementation of the report by Professor Krebs on badgers and bovine tuberculosis. [47256]
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§ Mr. RookerI expect to receive the Expert Group's first report, on the design of the culling experiment recommended by Professor Krebs, shortly.
§ Mr. PaiceTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he will announce the results of his consultation following the publication of Professor Kreb's report on badgers and bovine tuberculosis. [47257]
§ Mr. RookerI am hoping to make an announcement before the House rises for the summer recess.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will report on the results of the Thornbury experiment. [46763]
§ Mr. RookerThe policy employed in the area around Thornbury was not conceived as a scientific experiment but as a means of controlling the spread of tuberculosis from badgers to cattle. This involved the systematic removal of badgers from a defined geographical area around Thornbury, Gloucestershire during the period from 1975 to 1981, after which re-colonisation was allowed. The average incidence of TB in cattle herds fell from 5.6 per cent. in the 10 years prior to the clearance, to 0.45 per cent. in the 15 years following the clearance.
Professor Krebs' recent report on Bovine Tuberculosis in Cattle and Badgers concludes that, whilst the policy applied in the Thornbury area provides strong circumstantial evidence to suggest that badgers represent a significant source of Mycobacterium bovis infection in cattle, it does not prove a causal link, nor does it constitute a proper experimental basis to enable conclusions to be drawn about the effectiveness, or cost-effectiveness, of different badger culling strategies.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what validated results might be expected, and when, from the experiment proposed in the Krebs report. [46759]
§ Mr. RookerThe purpose of the experiment proposed by Professor Krebs is to provide the data needed to evaluate the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of badger culling as a means of controlling TB in cattle. I am awaiting advice from the Expert Group which is working on the detailed design of the experiment, including the data which must be collected.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will meet Professor Stephen Harris of the University of Bristol School of Biological Sciences. [46764]
§ Mr. RookerI have no plans to meet Professor Harris in the near future. However, I met him last year with the Parliamentary Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe (Mr. Morley), who meets and corresponds with him regularly.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the scientific, methodological and humane objections which he has received to the proposed Krebs experiment. [46762]
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§ Mr. RookerA number of such objections have been raised, and have been referred to the Expert Group to be taken into account during the work of designing the experiment. The objections featuring most frequently in correspondence have concerned the risks that denial of access to private land, or interference by badger rights activists or farmers illegally culling badgers, could undermine the statistical validity of the experiment; the numbers of badgers which could be killed; the possibility that lactating sows might be culled; and the fear that snares could be used to trap badgers. There have also been claims that the experiment is unnecessary both because badger culling has been shown not to work, and because it has been proved effective.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate the range of increase expected in TB herd breakdowns in 1999. [46758]
§ Mr. RookerIt is too early to make informed estimates of the number of TB herd breakdowns likely in 1999.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list and summarise each of the major reports on badgers and bovine TB considered by his Department since 1970. [46756]
§ Mr. RookerThere have been three major reports on badgers and bovine TB commissioned and considered by this Department since 1970
The report from Lord Zuckerman in 1980 (Badgers, Cattle and Tuberculosis);The report from Professor Dunnet in 1986 (Badgers and bovine tuberculosis); andThe report from Professor Krebs in 1997 (Bovine Tuberculosis in Cattle and Badgers).Copies of these reports, each of which contains a summary of the main findings/recommendations, are available in the Library of the House.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish a detailed response to the letter to him dated 6 May about the Krebs report and the proposed badger culling experiment from Professor Stephen Harris of the University of Bristol School of Biological Sciences. [46761]
§ Mr. RookerI replied to Professor Harris's letter on 22 June, inviting him to discuss his concerns in detail with officials.
488W
Payment rates (£ per head)—sheep annual premium scheme, suckler cow premium scheme, hill livestock compensatory allowances 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 19985 Sheep annual premium: including LFA supplement Cash prices 24.21 22.21 26.95 19.04 16.76 n/a 1997 prices 27.32 24.28 28.47 19.64 16.76 n/a excluding LFA supplement Cash prices 19.25 16.96 21.26 13.66 11.61 n/a 1997 prices 21.55 18.54 22.46 14.09 11.61 n/a
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many badgers proposed to be killed in the Krebs experiment are expected to be(a) snared and (b) trapped. [46760]
§ Mr. RookerWe shall take no decisions on the conduct of the culling experiment until we have received advice from the Expert Group. This will include advice on the method or methods to be used to capture badgers.