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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support pollinators on farmland.

£900 million has been made available for the new Countryside Stewardship scheme, which includes a dedicated Wild Pollinator and Farm Wildlife package. This has been developed by Natural England working in close partnership with wildlife organisations, the farming community and national pollinator scientists. The package is based on the best available evidence and builds on lessons learned from predecessor agri-environment schemes.

The National Pollinator Strategy was launched in November 2014, setting out the Government’s commitment to playing a leading role in improving the status of the country’s 1,500 or so pollinating insect species, and contains specific actions to support pollinators on farmland, as well as towns, cities and the countryside. Countryside Stewardship will play a key role in supporting the Strategy.