Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the pilot badger culls in (a) Gloucestershire and (b) Somerset have been evaluated as being safe, humane and effective.

The culls were closely monitored and the processes for data collection were independently audited. The results now need to be quality assured and assessed. It would not be appropriate to comment until these steps have been completed.