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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of permitted pesticides on pollinator populations in England.

The Government’s first priority with regard to pesticides is to ensure that they will not harm people or pose unacceptable risks to the environment.

Defra funds research projects examining the impacts of pesticide use on honeybees and the environment. As part of the National Honey Monitoring Scheme, we fund the analysis of honey samples aimed at assessing levels of pesticides in honey across England, Wales, and Scotland. This provides an estimated level of honeybee exposure to pesticides across different land uses.

In addition, Defra contributes funding to the Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (POMS) which tracks changes in pollinator numbers, including the abundance of bees, hoverflies, and other flower-visiting insects across the UK.

Pollinators are a priority for this government, and we are taking action alongside many partners to implement the National Pollinator Strategy’s provisions. The National Pollinator Strategy Action Plan was published in May 2022 and sets out more specifically how we will continue to act to fulfil the vision, aims and objectives of the Strategy, over the period 2021-2024.