£400,000 cost of consultation on badger cull

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The disease, which has caused tens of thousands of cattle to be slaughtered and cost the Government more than £90m last year, is primarily confined to the South- West and West of the country but there have been instances of the disease reported in Yorkshire.

The Tories made the control of badgers, which are thought to be responsible for the spread of bTB, an election manifesto promise in 2010 and began moving towards a cull upon forming the coalition Government with the Liberal Democrats.

However the policy has run into difficulty following vociferous opposition from animal rights groups.

The latest consultation phase ended in the past few days and while no decision date has been confirmed yet by the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Farming Minister Jim Paice has been quoted as saying it will be made “within a few weeks”.

Mr Paice also admitted that the consultation process had been tougher than anticipated and had taken longer than initially hoped.

Meanwhile cattle on British farms remain susceptible to the disease as the argument rumbles on.

Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show that a total of £400,000 was spent between May 2010 and July 2011 on the issue, the money going primarily on staff costs and the obtaining legal advice.

No external consultants were employed, however, to assist with the development of the policy.

The public consultation, which took place last autumn, garnered some 59,540 responses from around the country while numerous meetings with lobby groups have been held.

The Yorkshire Post can reveal that Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman met with representatives of the RSPCA, RSPB, Badger Trust and Wildlife Trust, as well as meeting with farming industry groups such as the National Farmers Union (NFU) and Country Land and Business Association (CLA).

The director of the NFU in the North-East, Barney Kay, said he felt the consultation was important to develop an effective policy.

“The NFU is supportive of the government’s consultation into measures to tackle bovine TB,” he said. “It is a devastating disease that ruins the lives and businesses of many farming families.

“During 2010 25,000 beef and dairy cows were slaughtered as part of cattle control measures for bovine TB.

“This government has now stressed its commitment to controlling this terrible disease, and is minded to introduce a package of measures for a carefully managed and science-led policy of badger control, in areas with high and persistent levels of bovine TB.

“This second consultation period has been extremely important to ensure that the new control measures are technically robust, humane, safe and deliverable on the ground.

“We are committed to working with government on this and remain focused on our end goal of a healthy countryside, both for cattle and for badgers.”

A spokesman for Defra told the Yorkshire Post that a decision on a badger cull would be announced “as soon as we can”.

He added: “Bovine TB is a devastating disease that last year led to 25,000 cattle being slaughtered, and cost the Government £90m.

“We need to get on top of it using a package of measures and have consulted on badger culling as part of this – otherwise it will cost £1bn over the next 10 years.”