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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the spread or recession of common ragwort in the countryside, especially along road-side verges.

An assessment of the spread or recession of common ragwort in the countryside has not been made, although the latest data from the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland indicate that it is still widespread. There is no general legal duty on Government to monitor levels of ragwort across the countryside.

Defra’s code of practice on how to prevent the spread of ragwort [see attached] states that humans may be at risk from ragwort poisoning through direct contact (e.g. hand pulling) however the Food and Environment Research Agency’s 2013 review of evidence concerning ragwort impacts, ecology and control options concluded that there is no evidence of human illness or fatalities resulting from ragwort. Links to further evidence can be found in this FOI release: Risk to humans from ragwort poisoning - GOV.UK [see attached].

Ragwort is classified as an Injurious Weed under the Weeds Act because it can be toxic to livestock when included in dry hay, or where livestock have nothing else to eat. Ragwort is a native plant that is valuable to a wide diversity of generalist pollinators, particularly in parched summer conditions when it can be the main nectar resource in a landscape.