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This petition was submitted during the 2019 to 2024 Parliament

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Closed Ban the sale of all non-organic pesticides to the general public

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Many non-organic pesticides can currently be sold to anyone in the UK without any checks or training. They should be banned from sale, online and in person, to the general public.

41% of insects around the world are threatened with extinction, including due to use of pesticides, alongside habitat destruction and climate change (Wildlife Trusts). We've seen a 68% decrease in population sizes of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish between 1970 - 2016 (The Living Planet Report 2020). There is a wealth of experience that shows you can home garden successfully without non-organic pesticides, yet these kill billions of insects each year, which also contributes to the deaths of birds, mammals and other life that need them.

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  • Related activity

    Original Government response

    Authorised pesticides, used carefully, are an acceptable way of managing the natural environment. The UK National Action Plan on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides (NAP) sets out Defra’s ambition to minimise the risks and impacts of pesticides to human health and the environment. We will publish an updated NAP this year.

    This Government supports integrated pest management (IPM) across sectors. We have demonstrated this through the package of research projects that we recently funded, that bring together scientific evidence on IPM. This work will support access to effective IPM tools and ensure that we understand changing trends in pest threats across the UK. We also introduced new paid actions within the SFI scheme to increase the uptake of IPM, such as the establishment and maintenance of flower-rich margins, blocks or in-field strips, and the use of companion cropping.

    Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    This response was given on 6 June 2023. The Petitions Committee then requested a revised response, that more directly addressed the request of the petition.

  • Government responded to this petition

    The Government will not ban the sale of non-organic pesticides to amateur gardeners. Authorised pesticides, used carefully, are an acceptable way of managing the natural environment.

    Read the response in full

    The Government will not ban the sale of non-organic pesticides to amateur gardeners. Authorised pesticides, used carefully, are an acceptable way of managing the natural environment.

    Authorised pesticides, used carefully, are an acceptable way of managing the natural environment. The UK National Action Plan on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides (NAP) sets out Defra’s ambition to minimise the risks and impacts of pesticides to human health and the environment. We will publish an updated NAP this year.

    This Government supports integrated pest management (IPM) across sectors. We have demonstrated this through the package of research projects that we recently funded, that bring together scientific evidence on IPM. This work will support access to effective IPM tools and ensure that we understand changing trends in pest threats across the UK. We also introduced new paid actions within the SFI scheme to increase the uptake of IPM, such as the establishment and maintenance of flower-rich margins, blocks or in-field strips, and the use of companion cropping.

    Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

    This is a revised response. The Petitions Committee requested a response which more directly addressed the request of the petition. You can find the original response towards the bottom of the petition page https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/624406

  • Related activity

    Petitions Committee requests a revised response from the Government

    The Petitions Committee (the group of MPs who oversee the petitions system) have considered the Government’s response to this petition. They felt that the response did not directly address the request of petition and have therefore written back to the Government to ask them to provide a revised response.

    When the Committee have received a revised response from the Government, this will be published on the website and you will receive an email. If you would not like to receive further updates about this petition, you can unsubscribe below.

  • Related activity

    Government Minister responds to request for overdue response to e-petition

    The Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries, Mark Spencer, has responded to the Petitions Committee's request for the overdue response to the petition you signed, and an explanation for the delay in responding to this.

    The Minister said:

    "A response to the e-petition has been prepared and will be issued very shortly.

    "In recent months, Defra has been responding to a large volume of e-petitions, and correspondence. The Department continues to review its processes and endeavours to provide on-time responses to e-petitions in the future."

    We will share the Government's response to this petition with you as soon as we receive it.

  • Related activity

    Overdue Government response to petition chased by MPs

    The Petitions Committee, the group of MPs who consider parliamentary petitions, has written to the Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, Thérèse Coffey MP, about the overdue Government response to this petition.

    In the letter, the Chair of the Petitions Committee Catherine McKinnell MP asks the Government to provide a response to the petition and an explanation for the delay responding by Thursday 1 June.

    Government departments are meant to submit responses to petitions within 21 days. A response to this petition was first requested by the Committee on 31 March 2023, but the Government has not yet responded.

    Because the response to this petition is now over a month overdue, the Committee has written to the Government asking them to explain the delay, and to provide their response to this petition.

    In the letter, Catherine McKinnell MP highlights how important it is that Government departments provide a timely response to e-petitions that receive over 10,000 signatures.

    We will share the Government's explanation for the delay, and their response, with you when we receive this.

  • Petition closed

  • Government will respond to this petition

    This petition got more than 10,000 signatures meaning that government will respond to it.

  • Petition published

    This petition can now be signed.

    If this petition gets 10,000 signatures, government will respond to it.

    If this petition gets 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.

    This petition will stay open until 6 April 2023.