To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what advice he has received on the reason for the change in the number of positive tuberculosis tests for cattle in the last five years. [31735]

There has been an increase incidence of the disease and investigations support the contention that much of the increase is due to infection from badgers. The Government are already carrying out research into ways of avoiding transmission of disease from badgers to cattle, including studies on the effects of badger removal operations on the badger population and their impact on the subsequent spread of disease within the badger population.