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 potential impact on the Government's decision permit the use of the banned pesticide thiamethoxam on sugar beet in England in 2023 on the health of (a) bees and (b) other wildlife.

In considering whether to allow the use of Cruiser SB on sugar beet crops this year, risks to the environment were assessed and weighed against the benefits of using Cruiser SB. On granting the authorisation, strict conditions have been attached to mitigate the impact of the treatment on bees and other wildlife. The main area in which potential concerns were flagged was the risk to bees from thiamethoxam taken up by crops planted in the same field after treated sugar beet. For this reason, a restriction has been imposed on such crops planted. Only a specific list of crops, none of which flower before harvest, are permitted to be planted within 32 months of treated sugar beet.