Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 08 Feb 2022
Cost of Living and Food Insecurity
"I commend the Labour Front-Bench team for tabling this motion, and I commend the hon. Member for Oldham West and Royton (Jim McMahon) for setting out succinctly and forcefully the impact on real human beings of the failures of this Conservative Government. It was so farcical as to be really …..."Peter Grant - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 08 Feb 2022
Cost of Living and Food Insecurity
"It is a valid point. Every so often, I go back through all the scare stories that have been pushed through my letterbox—mainly from the Labour party, because we do not really have a Tory presence in my constituency, or certainly not in my part of it. When we go …..."Peter Grant - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 08 Feb 2022
Cost of Living and Food Insecurity
"Absolutely. My hon. Friend—I hope that I can continue to call her a good friend and colleague—has, as always, made a very valid point.
One of the most iniquitous and downright evil things about the crisis that we are now facing is that the people who get the hardest hit …..."Peter Grant - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 08 Feb 2022
Cost of Living and Food Insecurity
"Glasgow North. I do beg my hon. Friend’s pardon. I love the city of Glasgow, but I can never remember the constituency boundaries.
My hon. Friend has raised the impact that Brexit is having. Brexit has had a disastrous effect on our economy, and it has not finished. The OBR …..."Peter Grant - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 08 Feb 2022
Cost of Living and Food Insecurity
"Is it not remarkable how—in this great global superpower, this global leader of the free world, this super global economy—every time that anything goes wrong it is global’s fault? “It was not me. A big global done it and ran away.”
I did see one figure at the weekend—that the …..."Peter Grant - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 08 Feb 2022
Cost of Living and Food Insecurity
"Again, the hon. Member has got it absolutely spot on. Tory Back Benchers have been given quotes to read out by their Whips, and they routinely read them out regardless of whether they bear any relation to reality or whether they completely cut the feet from the argument presented in …..."Peter Grant - View Speech
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Written Question
Tuesday 18th January 2022
Asked by:
Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question
to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with representatives of (a) The National Farmers Union of Scotland and (b) The National Farmers Union of England and Wales on proposed changes to the number of Seasonal Agricultural Worker visa routes from 2023.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
Defra works closely with a wide range of industry stakeholders – including the National Farmers Union of Scotland and the National Farmers Union of England and Wales – to discuss current immigration policy and the needs of the farming sector.
Under the Seasonal Workers Visa Route agreed with the Home Office for the period 2022-2024 there will be 30,000 visas available in 2022, but this will be kept under review with the potential to increase by 10,000 if necessary.
Immigration is a reserved matter and Seasonal Worker visas under this route for the horticulture sector will be available nationwide.
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.
Therefore, the Home Office announced that the number of visas will begin to taper down from 2023 to account for this focus on British workers and automation, and Defra will bring forward further proposals in due course on ways to support the sector as well as progressing recommendations from the Automation Review.
Defra is also working with industry and the Department for Work and Pensions to raise awareness of career opportunities in the food and farming sectors among UK workers.
Written Question
Tuesday 18th January 2022
Asked by:
Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
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 impact of the proposed reductions to the number of Seasonal Agricultural Worker visa routes from 2023 on the agricultural industry in (a) Scotland (b) the rest of the UK.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
Defra works closely with a wide range of industry stakeholders – including the National Farmers Union of Scotland and the National Farmers Union of England and Wales – to discuss current immigration policy and the needs of the farming sector.
Under the Seasonal Workers Visa Route agreed with the Home Office for the period 2022-2024 there will be 30,000 visas available in 2022, but this will be kept under review with the potential to increase by 10,000 if necessary.
Immigration is a reserved matter and Seasonal Worker visas under this route for the horticulture sector will be available nationwide.
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.
Therefore, the Home Office announced that the number of visas will begin to taper down from 2023 to account for this focus on British workers and automation, and Defra will bring forward further proposals in due course on ways to support the sector as well as progressing recommendations from the Automation Review.
Defra is also working with industry and the Department for Work and Pensions to raise awareness of career opportunities in the food and farming sectors among UK workers.
Speech in Westminster Hall - Thu 02 Dec 2021
Pet Travel
"I am pleased to be able to contribute to the debate and I commend the Backbench Business Committee for making time for it. I want to mention some of the petitions that have been included as background papers to today’s debate because, although none have reached the 100,000-signature threshold to …..."Peter Grant - View Speech
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Speech in Westminster Hall - Thu 02 Dec 2021
Pet Travel
"I could not honestly tell the Minister how many cats have owned me in the past. When the last one went to the big cattery in the sky, the reason we chose not to get another one was precisely that we were not happy at having to impose on neighbours …..."Peter Grant - View Speech
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