HL Deb 19 November 1998 vol 594 c180WA
Baroness Anelay of St. Johns

asked Her Majesty's Government:

When routine testing of badgers killed in road traffic accidents will resume; and which areas will be covered. [HL3665]

Lord Donoughue

The Road Traffic Accident (RTA) Survey of badgers was discontinued in August 1990. Since then RTA badger carcasses have been collected and tested only on anad-hoc basis as part of the epidemiological investigation of TB incidents.

The Krebs report recommended a limited re-introduction of the RTA survey targeting areas with high or increasing herd breakdown rates and nearby areas with low breakdown rates. The Bourne Group endorsed this recommendation and identified the areas to be surveyed as Cornwall, Devon, Gloucester, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire and Dorset. The Government expect this survey to start in the early part of 1999.