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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the badger vaccination programme on the incidence of bovine tuberculosis in cattle herds.

Multiple published studies indicate that badger vaccination is safe and can reduce TB infection and transmission in badgers. Vaccination is now being deployed across a number of large areas, including through a newly contracted Badger Vaccination Field Force. This expanded programme will provide further opportunities to assess and add to the body of evidence about the impact of vaccination on reducing TB incidence in cattle, where important evidence gaps remain.