Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to train UK-based sheep shearers ahead of the closure of Seasonal Shearer Visas in 2027.

Defra continues to work with British Wool ahead of the 2027 shearing season to build domestic shearing capacity and to encourage promotion, take-up and delivery of domestic shearing training programmes.

During each of the last five years (2021-2025) British Wool has invested an average of £134,000 net costs in providing shearing training for between 798 and 898 people at skill levels ranging from beginners through to highly proficient commercial shearers.

The department recognises the continued challenges that the industry faces each year in sourcing sufficient numbers of trained shearers.