Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of closure of the seasonal agricultural workers scheme on the economic output of the horticultural industry of (a) the UK and (b) Scotland since 2014.
Answered by George Eustice
The Seasonal Agricultural workers scheme was closed in 2013, on the advice of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC).
Defra has been monitoring the economic output of the horticultural industry and there has been an increase in output in real terms between 2014 and 2016 (latest available data) for both the UK and Scotland.
According to Agriculture UK 2016[1], output of vegetables and horticultural products in the UK saw an increase of £128 million in real terms between 2014 and 2016. Output of fruit in the UK saw an increase of £68 million from 2014-2015 with a subsequent decrease of £34 million in 2016 in real terms.
Output of the horticultural industry in Scotland increased between 2014 and 2015 by £25.1 million in total. These figures have been taken from the Scottish Government website.[2]
[2] http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2017/01/1031
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the agricultural sector on a new seasonal agricultural scheme.
Answered by George Eustice
Ministers meet regularly with the agricultural sector. Most recently, the Secretary of State met with industry representatives at the Royal Norfolk Show on 28 June. The impact of any restrictions on seasonal workers was also raised at an industry round table held at the Royal Highland Show on 22 June.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations he has received since 23 June 2016 from the agricultural sector on reopening the seasonal agricultural scheme.
Answered by George Eustice
Ministers meet regularly with the agricultural sector. Most recently, the Secretary of State met with industry representatives at the Royal Norfolk Show on 28 June. The impact of any restrictions on seasonal workers was also raised at an industry round table held at the Royal Highland Show on 22 June.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many times she has visited Scotland in an official capacity since the 2015 General Election; and what meetings were held on each such visit.
Answered by George Eustice
The Secretary of State has visited Scotland on two separate occasions since the 2015 General Election and met:
Diageo
Scotch Whisky Association
Scotland Food and Drink
NFU Scotland
Quality Meat Scotland
Ian Duncan MEP
Ruth Davidson MSP