Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure an adequate labour supply for the horticultural sector in the (a) short and (b) long term.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
On 24 December 2021, the Government announced that the seasonal worker visa route would be extended through to 2024. As with the Pilot, it allows overseas workers to come to the UK for up to six months to harvest both edible and ornamental crops. 30,000 visas will be available in 2022. This will be kept under review with the potential to increase by 10,000 visas if there is clear evidence of need.
While acknowledging the sector's reliance on foreign workers, the UK is committed to becoming a high-skilled, high-wage economy and the Government has been clear that more must be done to attract UK workers through offering training, career options, wage increases and to invest in increased automation technology.
To help with these efforts, Defra is working with industry and the Department for Work and Pensions to raise awareness of career opportunities within the horticulture sector among UK workers.
As announced in December 2020, Defra has undertaken a review of automation in horticulture during 2021, covering both the edible and ornamental sectors in England. It is due to be published in early 2022. Our response to the review will work alongside the seasonal worker visa route - and Defra's efforts to attract more UK residents into agricultural work - to support the overall aim of reducing the sector's dependency on seasonal migrant labour
Defra is also engaging with the operators of the seasonal worker visa route to prepare and advance emergency plans in response to the situation in Ukraine. Operators can recruit from any country they choose for the seasonal workers visa route and operators recruited seasonal works from almost 50 countries in 2021.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support companies in the horticultural sector to (a) expand, (b) develop skills and (c) improve business management.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government is taking a number of steps to support companies in the horticulture sector. In November, Defra launched the Farming Investment Fund which provides grants to farmers and horticultural growers to improve their businesses and bring further environmental benefits. The schemes have proved incredibly popular with unprecedented levels of demand. We are keen to support farmers and horticultural producers during this period of Agricultural Transition and help drive business growth. As a result, we have responded by approving a significant budget increase for round one of the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund from £21 million to £48.5 million. We hope this is well received by the horticulture sector and helps provide further access to funding for those who wish to take up the offer of grant funding support.
We will continue to support Research and Development in the horticulture and wider agricultural sectors going forward, for example, through the Farming Innovation Programme. Furthermore, the Government is contributing towards the establishment of a new professional body, the Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture. This initiative is aimed at removing the fragmentation that exists within current learning and skills landscape for farming businesses, enabling the industry to drive forward greater uptake of skills (including basic business management), creating clear career development pathways and promoting the sector as a progressive, professional and attractive career choice. The Government is also working with industry bodies to improve access to the talent and skills required within the industry and we are taking action through our apprenticeship programme and post-16 Skills Plan to reform technical education and new Careers Strategy.
The Government’s new ‘Help to Grow’ scheme will help small business across the UK learn new skills, reach new customers and boost profits. Help to Grow: Management aims to deliver an intensive leadership and management training programme to up to 30,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the UK to improve SME leadership and management skills and address firm-level productivity challenges. The programme has been developed in partnership with industry and is designed to be manageable alongside full-time work. It combines a practical curriculum with 1:1 support from a business mentor, peer-learning sessions and an alumni network, equipping SMEs with the tools to grow their businesses. The programme is delivered by leading business schools across the UK and is 90% subsidised by the Government, with participants contributing £750.