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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has finished reviewing the recommendations of the Health and Safety Executive review of pesticide regulations; and whether he has plans to allow for uncertified voluntary conservation workers to return to using glyphosate solution under direct supervision from properly certified professional staff.

Defra has not yet finished reviewing the recommendations of the Health and Safety Executive’s review of pesticide regulations. Therefore, the department has no immediate plans to allow for uncertified voluntary conservation workers to return to using glyphosate solution.

Now that we have left the EU and are in control of our own laws, we are in a position to take forward reforms to our pesticides regulatory regime to ensure that it is tailored to the GB context. We are looking to ways in which we can ensure future regulation is fit for purpose – protecting the environment and the public along with effectively supporting productive and competitive agriculture and horticulture. This will be set out in the National Action Plan for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides to be published later this year.