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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the National Pollinator Strategy since its introduction.

In November 2015 Defra published an implementation plan highlighting progress in the first year of the National Pollinator Strategy. As an example, over half of mid–tier applications to our new £900 million Countryside Stewardship scheme, launched in July 2015, contain the Wild Pollinator and Farm Wildlife Package. Monitoring and evaluation of the scheme will include measures to establish the impact on pollinators.

The Strategy has also taken steps to promote public awareness and engagement, including holding the first Pollinator Awareness Week in July 2015.