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News & Reports bovine tb
Badger culling: potential licence applicants encouraged to begin preparations now NATURAL England is advising potential applicants for badger control licences for 2014 and onwards to begin to gather information together now and to familiarise themselves with available guidance. The agency, which is responsible for issuing licences to permit badgers to be culled, notes that no decision has yet been taken by the Government on a wider roll out of, and further licences for, badger culling. However, it says, based on experience from the licensing process for the pilot culls that were carried out in Somerset and Gloucestershire last year, gathering the information required to satisfy the necessary criteria and submit a licence application can take applicants a significant amount of time. It adds: ‘If this process were to begin after confirmation of the roll-out there is a serious
risk that licences could not be obtained in time for culling to take place this year.’ Natural England says that gathering details, such as the land and landowners who would be involved in a cull zone, would help put applicants in a good position to seek a licence later in the year in the event that the Government decides to extend the granting of badger culling licences to other parts of England most severely affected by bovine TB. It notes that the Government’s decision will be informed by the report of the Independent Expert Panel, which is considering the safety, effectiveness and humaneness of controlled shooting of badgers. If the Government subsequently confirms that the policy is to be rolled out more widely, Natural England notes
that the first stage of the licensing process would require potential new application areas to submit an expression of interest form. Submissions would then be screened by Natural England to determine which candidates should be invited to apply for a licence to control badgers to prevent the spread of bovine TB. Natural England says that, while there is no need to submit expressions of interest at this stage, it would be helpful to have an early indication of the likely demand for licences for this year and subsequent years. It asks any areas that might wish to be considered for badger control licences in 2014 or 2015 to notify it as soon as possible by e-mail to [email protected] doi: 10.1136/vr.g1162
February 1, 2014 | Veterinary Record | 107
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on July 6, 2015 - Published by group.bmj.com
Badger culling: potential licence applicants encouraged to begin preparations now Veterinary Record 2014 174: 107
doi: 10.1136/vr.g1162 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/174/5/107.1
These include:
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Notes
To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
News & Reports bovine tb
Badger culling: potential licence applicants encouraged to begin preparations now NATURAL England is advising potential applicants for badger control licences for 2014 and onwards to begin to gather information together now and to familiarise themselves with available guidance. The agency, which is responsible for issuing licences to permit badgers to be culled, notes that no decision has yet been taken by the Government on a wider roll out of, and further licences for, badger culling. However, it says, based on experience from the licensing process for the pilot culls that were carried out in Somerset and Gloucestershire last year, gathering the information required to satisfy the necessary criteria and submit a licence application can take applicants a significant amount of time. It adds: ‘If this process were to begin after confirmation of the roll-out there is a serious
risk that licences could not be obtained in time for culling to take place this year.’ Natural England says that gathering details, such as the land and landowners who would be involved in a cull zone, would help put applicants in a good position to seek a licence later in the year in the event that the Government decides to extend the granting of badger culling licences to other parts of England most severely affected by bovine TB. It notes that the Government’s decision will be informed by the report of the Independent Expert Panel, which is considering the safety, effectiveness and humaneness of controlled shooting of badgers. If the Government subsequently confirms that the policy is to be rolled out more widely, Natural England notes
that the first stage of the licensing process would require potential new application areas to submit an expression of interest form. Submissions would then be screened by Natural England to determine which candidates should be invited to apply for a licence to control badgers to prevent the spread of bovine TB. Natural England says that, while there is no need to submit expressions of interest at this stage, it would be helpful to have an early indication of the likely demand for licences for this year and subsequent years. It asks any areas that might wish to be considered for badger control licences in 2014 or 2015 to notify it as soon as possible by e-mail to [email protected] doi: 10.1136/vr.g1162
February 1, 2014 | Veterinary Record | 107
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on July 6, 2015 - Published by group.bmj.com
Badger culling: potential licence applicants encouraged to begin preparations now Veterinary Record 2014 174: 107
doi: 10.1136/vr.g1162 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/174/5/107.1
These include:
Email alerting service
Receive free email alerts when new articles cite this article. Sign up in the box at the top right corner of the online article.
Notes
To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
