To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department's publication Setting the minimum and maximum numbers for year 2 of the badger culls, published in August 2014, for what reason different methods of estimating badger population were used in Gloucestershire and Somerset for determining the numbers of badgers to be removed in year 2 of the pilot culls in those areas.
This answer is the replacement for a previous holding answer.
Answered on
29 October 2014
As the licensing authority, it is for Natural England to set minimum and maximum numbers of badgers to be removed in each area. Defra’s advice on this particular issue is set out in paragraphs 19 to 29 of the document “Setting the minimum and maximum numbers for Year 2 of the badger culls”.