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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department spent on the implementation of badger culls for bovine TB control, and the costs to police forces of these culls in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15.

For the financial year 2012-13, Defra spent £2.5 million on badger control projects. This was inclusive of the costs of the postponed culling activity in 2012, as well as preparations for the 2013 targeted badger cull.

In the 2013-14 financial year, Defra invested £6.3 million in two badger cull pilots. The total cost of the policing operations for the two pilots was £3.5 million.

The implementation and policing costs for the badger culls in 2014-15 have not yet been finalised.