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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring the gardens of publicly-owned buildings to be more environmentally friendly for bees and other insects.

The Government works with public, private and voluntary sector partners to develop advice so that everyone can provide and manage nesting and feeding resources for bees and other insects, whether in gardens or the wider countryside.

Our advice is based on clear evidence that by increasing habitat for insects, we support long-term population increases. As part of the National Pollinator Strategy, we promote this advice through the ‘Bees’ Needs’ website and our annual ‘Bees’ Needs Week’ campaign to celebrate and encourage nationwide action.

All public bodies, including local authorities, have a legal duty under the 2006 Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act to have regard to conserving biodiversity when exercising their functions. Our Environment Bill strengthens that duty to require public authorities to take steps to further the conservation and enhancement of biodiversity.

In addition, the Greening Government Commitments set out a number of environmental commitments across the estates and operations of central Government departments and their partner organisations, including the need to report publicly on the steps they are taking to address biodiversity and the natural environment. We aim to publish a new framework of commitments for 2021-25 in due course. This will ensure the central Government estate, and its operations, continues to reduce its environmental footprint, aligns with commitments in our 25 Year Environment Plan and will be consistent with a trajectory to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. As part of this, we are exploring a range of measures aimed at improving biodiversity and nature recovery across the central government estate.