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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effect an expansion of badger culling to Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire will have on the ability of the Government-funded badger vaccination programmes in those counties to (a) continue and (b) expand their operations.

Existing Government-funded badger edge vaccination schemes will be able to continue operations where licensing conditions for vaccination are met. Scheme holders should continue to work with land owners to expand their operations in the areas agreed with Defra.