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

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides has conducted a review into the effectiveness of regulatory enforcement of pesticide spraying in fields adjoining residential areas.

The UK Expert Committee on Pesticides (ECP) has not conducted such a review.

Pesticides are only authorised for use in situations where scientific assessment finds that this will not harm human health, including that of local residents, and will not pose unacceptable risks to the environment. Those using pesticides are required to take all reasonable precautions to protect human health and the environment and to confine the application of the pesticide to the area intended to be treated. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) considers reports of non-compliance in line with its published enforcement policy.

Incidents in which people may have been affected by pesticides are monitored, including through work carried out by the National Poisons Information Service. HSE uses the intelligence gathered to inform decisions on enforcement priorities and the ECP regularly reviews the data produced.