Mr. Bill Callanan:

There is an issue of which we have to be conscious. We regulate and provide guidance but it is up to local authorities whether they want to use glyphosate. A number have decided not to. We do not have the regulatory basis to tell a local authority that it should not be using glyphosate. However, we are clear in our guidance that a general approach to all pesticides should be to ask whether they need to be used, how their use can be minimised and whether alternatives are available. All of these questions must be part of the decision-making process. We give guidance on that, but we do not have the legal competence to do anything other than suggest that these pesticides not be used. That is a matter for local authorities to decide. Some have made that decision and others have not.