I am writing to follow up a number of points arising from the oral evidence given by officials and the Minister of State on Tuesday 16 March.

  Firstly, I would like to correct one piece of information given in evidence. During his appearance before the Committee on Tuesday 16 March, Dr Cheeseman said, in answer to question 633, that surveying in the Gloucestershire/Herefordshire triplet had been completed. However, it appears that he had been misinformed and may have inadvertently misled the Committee. He would like to correct his statement to reflect that, although surveying has essentially been completed, the Wildlife Unit are still surveying a few small pockets of land in the trial areas, to ensure that we have as complete a picture of badger activity in the triplet as possible.

The Committee asked about the extent of non co-operation in the second triplet. The Wildlife Unit have visited 614 landowners or occupiers in the Gloucestershire/Herefordshire triplet. Between them, they account for 87 per cent of the land contained in the three trial areas and their associated inner buffer zones. Of the 614 premises visited, 41 (accounting for 2.3 per cent of the area visited) did not wish to allow the trial to take place on their land. It is not our policy to visit properties in towns or villages unless surveying of adjacent land suggests it is necessary.

The Committee asked for an estimate of the cost of mortality tagging. A number of assumptions have had to be made and details are given in Annex A. I should stress that there are a number of practical problems with the proposal, which may not be easy to overcome. The estimate also represents a large additional resource and we do not see this as a practical proposition within our existing resource restraints.

The Committee also asked for information on the badger vaccine work being undertaken in the Republic of Ireland. We are grateful to Republic of Ireland officials for agreeing to release information. A note is included at Annex B.

26 March 1999