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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to strengthen protections for bees and other pollinators since the end of the transition period.

Pollinators are a priority for this Government and we remain committed to working with our many partners to further the goals set out in our National Pollinator Strategy. We continue to take a range of steps to restore habitats, reduce pressures on pollinators, and maintain healthy bee populations.

We recently launched the next round of Countryside Stewardship for agreements starting in January 2022. Countryside Stewardship continues to support land managers in delivering environmental benefits to their land. We are also introducing new schemes that will pay farmers to improve the environment, through paying for measures such as integrated pest management and other actions that support biodiversity, including pollinators

We now operate an autonomous GB pesticides regime and will continue to ensure that decisions on the use of pesticides are based on careful scientific assessment of the risks, with the aim of achieving a high level of protection for people and the environment. Pesticides that pose unacceptable risks, including to pollinators, are not authorised. We have also just consulted on the revised National Action Plan for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides and are analysing the responses. The draft plan lays out how we intend to support the uptake of integrated pest management, and how we can further minimise risks to pollinators.

In light of the changes to honey bee import rules, we are listening to beekeepers and their associations as part of our monitoring of the new arrangements. Guidance on the new rules was published prior to the end of the transition period and updates have been made in response to questions raised. Regular discussions take place with colleagues in the Devolved Administrations, with the aim of maintaining suitable trading arrangements for the UK beekeeping sector.