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Written question asked by Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 16 June 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 22 June 2026 (named day). It was answered by Stephen Morgan (Labour) on Monday, 22 June 2026 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Testing

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of (a) the potential merits of creating a distinct classification of responder, separate from reactor, for non-reactor cattle that test positive to non-statutory bovine tuberculosis tests and may be latently infected and non-infectious and (b) the potential impact of such a classification on (i) compensation costs and (ii) farmer-led disease management.

Answer

The recently published recommended Bovine TB Control Strategy for England (https://tbhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026-Recommended-Bovine-TB-Strategy.pdf) proposes facilitating wider access to privately funded ancillary bovine TB testing to support earlier detection of infected cattle and disease management.

The Government will now consider the recommendations in the proposed Strategy, including the creation of a distinct, formal classification of ‘responder’ for TB control purposes, and the potential impacts of such a classification.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
10268
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Testing Bovine tuberculosis
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk