Bovine Tuberculosis: Testing
(asked on 16th June 2026) - View Source
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to make Animal and Plant Health Agency bovine tuberculosis testing data accessible with appropriate permissions and GDPR safeguards to private veterinary surgeons engaged with the herds concerned.
Answered by
Stephen Morgan
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animal and Plant Health Agency has an established process enabling cattle keepers to request TB testing data relating to their herds. Keepers need to complete and submit a request proforma to APHA. Keepers may then choose with whom they wish to share their herd's test data.
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) emphasises the importance of providing secure TB farm-level data to farmers and their vets in a timely manner, to aid decision making. Government will now carefully consider the recommendations in the proposed strategy.