IT costs more than half a million pounds every year for police to enforce the badger cull in Somerset, writes Daniel Mumby, Local Democracy Reporter. 

Avon and Somerset Constabulary is responsible for enforcing the annual badger cull, as mandated by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to slow the spread of bovine tuberculosis (TB).

Figures released by the police show it cost taxpayers more than £540,000 to enforce the cull in 2021 – and that more than £5.6million has been spent in total since the cull was introduced in 2013.

Campaigners have called for an end to the cull, describing it as poor value for money and ineffective at combating the spread of the disease.

In 2021, £543,987 was spent on policing the badger cull in the Avon and Somerset area.

Since the cull began in 2013, the total figure spent in the force area on the badger cull is £5,611,780.27 – an average of more than £600,000 per year (2013 to 2021 inclusive).

All the police’s costs associated with enforcing the cull are claimed back from Defra – meaning none of the costs of the cull come out of the police’s share of the council tax precept at a local level.

The Somerset Against the Badger Cull campaign group had called for the cull to be abandoned, arguing there are better uses of police resources and better ways to reduce the spread of the disease among cattle.

A spokesman said: “The badger cull is widely opposed because it is ineffective in reducing bovine TB in cattle and it is cruel.

“Badgers are a native, legally protected species. Many people value badgers highly.

“We would like the government to concentrate on effective ways of tackling bovine TB – such as stricter and improved testing for cattle and higher standards of on-farm biosecurity. Producing a cattle vaccine is also essential.

“The disease is most commonly spread through cattle to cattle transmission. As expert scientists have already said, bovine TB incidence can be reduced by concentrating solely on cattle measures.”

Avon and Somerset Constabulary has declined to comment on the figures, stating solely that “the badger cull is a DEFRA initiative” and confirming all costs associated with enforcing it are “fully reimbursed”.

In its most recent analysis of the effectiveness of badger culling, published in September 2021, Defra officially concluded it remained the most cost-effective option.

A spokesman said: “Currently no alternative option offers better value for money in the short to medium term, against a situation where the incidence of TB in cattle continued to rise, along with the costs to both government and farmers of dealing with it.”