Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to protect bee health and populations.

Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra protects honeybee health through work by APHA’s National Bee Unit on statutory pest and disease control, surveillance, education and working with beekeepers to keep bees healthy.

Under the Defra Environmental Improvement Plan, a new Pollinator Action Plan will be published, setting out key actions to support pollinators in England.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support farmers in adopting practices that protect bee health and provide suitable habitats and forage for pollinators.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Support for farmers includes the Sustainable Farming Incentive and Landscape Recovery, which fund creation and restoration of habitats in appropriate areas. Our Environmental Improvement Plan target will double farms providing sufficient year-round resources for farm wildlife, including pollinators, by 2030 compared with 2025.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Department is taking to ensure fisheries management within Marine Protected Areas supports the achievement of Good Environmental Status for biodiversity, sea-floor integrity and marine food webs.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are protected at designation by the marine planning and licensing regimes. In England 60% of our MPAs already have fisheries byelaws in place. Last year, the Marine Management Organisation consulted last year on byelaws to restrict damaging fishing in a further 42 MPAs. These proposals cover 30,000 km2 of English waters and will contribute to achieving Good Environmental Status. Ministers will make decisions in due course.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that marine light pollution is considered alongside underwater noise and other forms of energy introduction in assessments of Good Environmental Status under the UK Marine Strategy.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The UK Government and Devolved Governments are working through the Oslo and Paris Convention for the Protection of the North East Atlantic (OSPAR) to improve the evidence base on marine light pollution. Any decision on the incorporation of marine light pollution into future UK Marine Strategy assessments would be considered collectively by all four UK administrations.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to incorporate marine light pollution into future reviews of the UK Marine Strategy and assessments of Good Environmental Status.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The UK Government and Devolved Governments are working through the Oslo and Paris Convention for the Protection of the North East Atlantic (OSPAR) to improve the evidence base on marine light pollution. Any decision on the incorporation of marine light pollution into future UK Marine Strategy assessments would be considered collectively by all four UK administrations.