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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to support bees and pollinators.

Defra recognises the importance of pollinators, including bees, and their value to food security and sustaining the natural environment. This is why Defra published the National Pollinator Strategy in November 2014:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-pollinator-strategy-for-bees-and-other-pollinators-in-england.

The Strategy is a ten-year plan to bring about the best possible conditions for pollinators to flourish across all land types. It identifies specific policy and evidence actions for government and others, and actions that everyone can take to help expand food, shelter and nest sites. The Strategy also seeks to address key gaps in our understanding about the status of pollinators.

To raise public awareness a ‘Call to Action’, “Bees’ Needs: Food and a Home” (www.beesneeds.org.uk) was launched in July 2014. This is a simple message on the essential needs of pollinators and how to fulfil them.