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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the decline in the bee population; what steps he is taking to tackle such a decline; and if he will make a statement.

Changes in our bee and pollinator populations are due to a range of environmental pressures, including intensification of land use and loss of good quality habitat; pests and diseases; invasive species; use of pesticides; and climate change.

In 2013 Defra's Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Ian Boyd, commissioned a report on the ‘Status and Value of Pollinators and Pollination Services' to review the current evidence on the impact of environmental pressures on pollinators. A copy of this report will be placed in the House Library. We have just begun a two year project to develop a framework and test methods for monitoring pollinator abundance.

In the autumn we will publish our National Pollinator Strategy, which includes a series of policy actions to safeguard pollinators. In the meanwhile, we will continue to raise public awareness through the launch this July of our call to action, ‘Bees' Needs: Food and a Home'. This is a simple message for all land managers on the essential needs of pollinators and how to fulfil them.

We want to see a thriving bee and pollinator population in the UK, to enhance biodiversity and support our food production.