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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the cost is of culling badgers in Devon since the beginning of the cull.

Badger culls are industry led and the cost of delivering them has been met by participants. The additional costs to Defra have related to licensing, monitoring and policing for public safety.

Badger control costs are published annually on GOV.UK and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bovine-tb-government-badger-control-costs.

Badger control costs for 2023 will be published in due course.

Whilst a breakdown of costs by individual county is not available, police costs are available on individual force websites. Costs for Devon and Cornwall Police can be found at: https://www.devon-cornwall.police.uk/police-forces/devon-cornwall-police/areas/about-us/about-us/transparency-and-financial-information/badger-cull-costs/.

On 30 August, the government announced the start of work to refresh the Bovine TB strategy for England, to end the badger cull by the end of this parliament and drive down disease to save cattle and farmers’ livelihoods. This will be undertaken in co-design with farmers, vets, scientists and conservationists, ensuring a refreshed strategy continues to be led by the best scientific and epidemiological evidence and advice.

Further details can be found on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-end-badger-cull-with-new-tb-eradication-strategy.