Andrew Bridgen

The Net Zero Strategy sets out our commitments to enable local areas to deliver net zero. This includes setting clearer expectations on how central and local government interact in the delivery of net zero.

We have published a landing page to help local authorities navigate the large amount of information from all departments and identify initial contact points for officers. In the longer term we have committed to continue working with the local sector towards effective delivery of common goals on the path to net zero

The Commission does not hold details of the pension entitlement of former Speaker John Bercow.

Pension entitlements in relation to a Member’s service as an MP, Minister or Office Holder are held by the Trustees of the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund (PCPF).

The pension entitlement available for MPs under the PCPF is set out in a House of Commons Library briefing note available at:
MPs' Pension Scheme - House of Commons Library (parliament.uk)

The annual pension entitlements for Ministers and Office Holders and the separate arrangement for former Speakers are set out in a House of Commons Library briefing note available at:
Pensions of ministers and senior office holders - House of Commons Library (parliament.uk)

Pension entitlement in respect of service as a former Speaker prior to the Public Service Pension Act 2013 are paid from the Consolidated Fund. Details of these pension payments are in the Consolidated Fund accounts, available at:
CF_Annual_Accounts_2019-20.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk)

The Government is aware that not all households have electricity provided through a domestic electricity supply contract, such as mobile home residents. The Government raised this in its technical consultation on the Energy Bills Support Scheme. Households without a domestic electricity supply contract are not eligible for the scheme and the Government is exploring options for other ways in which they might receive similar support. The responses to this consultation are being analysed and a response will be published later in the summer.

We recognise the impact the pandemic and inflation is having on businesses of all sizes and the Government is in regular contact with business groups and suppliers to understand the challenges they face and explore ways to protect businesses.

This Department is working closely with Defra, who lead on food supply chain and is in regular discussions with the National Federation of Fish Friers to understand better the impacts on hospitality businesses including fish and chip shops.

The Government continues to work closely with vehicle manufactures on the transition to zero emission vehicles.

Ministers regularly engage with industry, including vehicle manufacturers, energy companies and chargepoint operators as well as local authorities (LAs) regarding electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure. For example, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister hosted an event at the Global Investment Summit on 19 October which was attended by leading British and global companies involved in the UK’s electric vehicle revolution. The meeting was attended by my Rt. Hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Secretary of State for Transport, and the Secretary of State for International Trade, and by my Hon. Friend the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury.

The Secretary of State for Transport wrote to the chief executives of all UK LAs in February this year to update them on the funding available to them. My Hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary for Transport also wrote to the Chief Executives and Leaders of 20 councils that had a lower than average chargepoint per head of population to encourage them to engage with OZEV officials. Since this letter, officials have hosted several meetings with members of these councils, providing support and advice. Officials from the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) have a programme of activities to engage and support LAs, to help mainstream local capability and leadership and ensure LAs are working to support chargepoint rollout in their areas.

BEIS has responsibility for the Arms Length Bodies who collect, curate, and maintain the foundational data that underpins the use of post codes and addressing.

Ordnance Survey (working in a consortium of members including Royal Mail, Office for National Statistics, Ordnance Survey Northern Ireland, National Records of Scotland) publishes 1.7m centroids for postcodes across the UK.

The location of the postcode centroid is automatically generated by averaging more granular address data and 'snapping' to the nearest address – which includes residential properties – in order to ensure it sits on a building, rather than potentially in the middle of a road, a lake or a field. This was designed to support the primary use case for post code and address-based navigation (i.e. getting to the right approximate location). Ordnance Survey are currently exploring how they locate the centroid for postcodes in their Code Point products and would welcome engagement from any interested parties.

Ordnance Survey also publishes the location of every individual address in its AddressBase products, which is used by emergency services and delivery companies to navigate to the correct property more efficiently and effectively.

The Government believes that the current daylight-saving arrangements represent the optimal use of the available daylight across the UK.

The Government’s Review of the Gambling Act called for evidence on how best to recoup the regulatory and societal costs of problem gambling. We will publish a white paper outlining our proposals for reform and vision for the sector in the coming weeks.

The Government’s Review of the Gambling Act called for evidence on how best to recoup the regulatory and societal costs of problem gambling. We will publish a white paper outlining our proposals for reform and vision for the sector in the coming weeks.

The framework for society lotteries is set out in the Gambling Act 2005 (the Act). Section 14 of the Act generally defines a lottery as requiring payment to participate, an outcome determined wholly by chance, and the allocation of prizes.

Large society lotteries are subject to strict sales and prize limits, and operate under a licence issued by the Gambling Commission. They are also required to provide a minimum return to good causes.

Some products, such as prize competitions and free draws may resemble lotteries but do not meet the definition of a lottery under section 14 of the Act. This might be due to a free entry route or because there is an element of skill involved. Since free draws do not meet the definition of a lottery, they are not considered gambling for the purposes of the Act and the Gambling Commission has no regulatory responsibilities for these products, but it does monitor the boundary between them and society lotteries to ensure that products are regulated when required by the Act.

The Government launched its Review of the Gambling Act 2005 in December 2020 with the publication of a Call for Evidence. We received over 16,000 responses, and we are considering all the evidence carefully. The Review is wide-ranging and evidence-led, and aims to make sure that the regulation of gambling is fit for the digital age. We are currently carefully considering all submitted evidence and a white paper will be published in the coming weeks.

The framework for society lotteries is set out in the Gambling Act 2005 (the Act). Section 14 of the Act generally defines a lottery as requiring payment to participate, an outcome determined wholly by chance, and the allocation of prizes.

Large society lotteries are subject to strict sales and prize limits, and operate under a licence issued by the Gambling Commission. They are also required to provide a minimum return to good causes.

Some products, such as prize competitions and free draws may resemble lotteries but do not meet the definition of a lottery under section 14 of the Act. This might be due to a free entry route or because there is an element of skill involved. Since free draws do not meet the definition of a lottery, they are not considered gambling for the purposes of the Act and the Gambling Commission has no regulatory responsibilities for these products, but it does monitor the boundary between them and society lotteries to ensure that products are regulated when required by the Act.

The Government launched its Review of the Gambling Act 2005 in December 2020 with the publication of a Call for Evidence. We received over 16,000 responses, and we are considering all the evidence carefully. The Review is wide-ranging and evidence-led, and aims to make sure that the regulation of gambling is fit for the digital age. We are currently carefully considering all submitted evidence and a white paper will be published in the coming weeks.

Ministers and officials have meetings with various stakeholders to support ongoing work and policy development. There has also been a wide-ranging series of meetings to support the ongoing Gambling Act Review which was launched in December 2020 with a Call for Evidence. Records of ministerial meetings are published quarterly and are available on gov.uk.

Ministers have not had meetings with representatives of the Horseracing Bettors Forum. However, officials will be meeting the organisation to discuss the Gambling Act Review in the coming weeks.

Catch up funding for 16- to 19-year-olds is provided through the 16-19 Tuition Fund. This is focused on supporting those young people who are at significant disadvantage and whose learning has been impacted most severely by the COVID-19 outbreak.

We have targeted this funding among 16–19 -year-old students for those with low prior attainment because:

• We know that these young people are disproportionately likely to be from disadvantaged backgrounds.
• Students who leave full-time education with low attainment are far more likely to become Not in Education, Employment or Training and far less likely to progress to higher level courses, including HE and apprenticeships. We also know that they earn significantly less over their lifetimes.
• Students with low prior attainment are more likely to have fallen behind in lockdown, as they will have found it harder to ‘self-study’ at home and are more likely to disengage.

Those without GCSE English and/or maths at the expected standard at age 16 is the agreed measure used for disadvantage in 16-19 education and an established part of the 16-19 funding formula.

Funding is available to spend on those students without a grade 5 or above in English and/or maths GCSE. However, providers are required to prioritise support for students who have not achieved a grade 4 in English and/or maths.  If providers have funding available within their allocations, they can consider whether any young people with a grade 4 also needs catch up support.

As further evidence emerges, we will consider if refinements to eligibility for future funding are needed to maximise its value and impact in providing catch-up support for 16-19 students.

We continue to keep our approach to managing the sector’s financial position under review and update our guidance to reflect changing financial standards and prevailing economic conditions. Our guidance is freely available for public scrutiny.

A small team of highly experienced contract managers has been set up to focus on delivering enhanced monitoring and oversight of the top, approximately, 30 largest and most complex independent training providers. This work includes a more in-depth understanding and monitoring of these providers’ future strategy and financial position so that the likelihood and impact of large-scale provider failure is reduced.

As part of the flagship apprenticeship provision, organisations new to apprenticeship delivery are subject to an early monitoring regime. To maximise successful provision overall, we offer enhanced financial monitoring to organisations we perceive may be in financial difficulty.

Access to apprenticeship delivery is strictly controlled and targets not only an organisation’s financial status, but also its assessed ability to deliver and the grades awarded by Ofsted.

Ofsted inspects further education providers in line with its published ‘frequency of inspection guidance’ determined by the provider’s previous grade. Ofsted also uses a broad range of information to assess risk and performance when selecting providers for inspection.

The ESFA sets out in its guidance and removal from the register of apprenticeship training providers guidance what action may be taken if there is a poor Ofsted outcome.

Food waste is already collected from some or all households by 53% of local authorities in England. Our recycling consistency reforms mean that new powers, included in the Environment Act last year, will require all local authorities in England to arrange for the separate collection of food waste for recycling. We recently published our second consultation on recycling reforms, including proposed dates for these requirements. We are currently analysing responses to the consultation and intend to publish our response, including dates by which food waste collections will be required from households, in due course.

The law at present encourages reuse and recycling through waste hierarchy obligations on all waste handlers. We welcome the voluntary action being taken by industry, such as the British Coatings Federation (BCF)'s PaintCare proposals, and community initiatives, supported by local authorities, to allow donations to local community repaint schemes. I will be meeting with the BCF in early March to find out more about their proposed scheme.

To strengthen action on reuse, we will shortly publish our new Waste Prevention Programme for England, on which we consulted in 2021, including on steps to improve local systems and services that facilitate reuse and recycling of this nature.

We have conducted reviews into plant or fungi-based plastic alternatives to fossil derived plastics and bio-based (plant derived) plastics. These reviews identified several potential issues with such alternatives from a sustainability perspective, including issues with land use, nutrients and water.

Further research is required to demonstrate bio-based plastics lead to a better environmental outcome overall when compared to conventional plastics across a whole life cycle.

Defra is leading the £5.77 million cross-Governmental project to test and evaluate green social prescribing in seven test and learn sites and to run national research work to understand its scalability. This can include the prescribing of gardening projects and activities in parks. We have also committed to treble tree planting rates in England, and bring trees closer to people, through trees on streets, in parks and urban orchards, supported through the Urban Tree Challenge and Local Authority Treescape Funds. In addition, Defra and Natural England are working with other partners and stakeholders to develop a Green Infrastructure Framework. This will show what good green infrastructure looks like, including parks, woodlands and community food growing.

In order to support all these initiatives, we will need a thriving horticulture sector to provide the necessary plants, flowers and trees, and we are looking at the opportunities and barriers that the horticulture sector faces to support sustainable growth in the sector, so that more of our plants and flowers can be sourced from our own domestic growers.

On national plant collections, Defra has also committed to funding a £15 million project to digitise a significant proportion of the Herbarium at Kew Gardens. The Herbarium is the world’s largest collection of plant and fungal specimens, with specimens collected over 170 years, including those collected by Charles Darwin. The significant injection of government funding will protect irreplaceable samples from deterioration and allow researchers from across the country and the globe to access the historic collection, help conserve nature and find solutions to some of the most critical challenges facing humanity.

EU legislation allows Member States to grant emergency authorisation for the use of a pesticide in special circumstances.  Since the EU prohibited the outdoor use of thiamethoxam in December 2018, 15 EU countries have granted emergency authorisations for products containing thiamethoxam.

Fast growing economies such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan provide an abundance of opportunities for British business across a wide range of sectors.

My Department is supporting British business to grab these opportunities through trade dialogues and regular business to business exchanges, including the annual United Kingdom-Kazakhstan Inter-Governmental Commission that I co-chaired late last year in Astana.

We are working hard to remove trade barriers with Uzbekistan too.For example, an update to their Intellectual Property regime, removing barriers for British businesses could be worth over £11million per year.

HS2 Ltd works closely with the Canal and River Trust, and local canal groups, to mitigate impacts on the canal network and identify opportunities for improvements. Various canal projects have been supported by HS2 project funds and grants, as well as from donations provided by the HS2 supply chain. Projects have ranged from the supply of wood chippings to improve towpath surfacing, to larger schemes, such as the Trent Sow Parklands and Cannock Chase project which is supporting canal restoration works and improvements to the towpath network. HS2 Ltd is always keen to hear from those involved in local projects, including those aimed at improving community opportunities associated with the canal network.

Following a pause to design work on the HS2 Eastern Leg as a result of the Oakervee Review and during the development of the Integrated Rail Plan, the Department and HS2 Ltd are now considering how best to take HS2 East forward, working closely with Network Rail.

The £500m Restoring Your Railway Fund is supporting over 45 schemes at different stages of development with funding and advice. A Strategic Outline Business Case for the Ivanhoe Line bid was submitted to the Department in May 2021. The Secretary of State for Transport and I are considering next steps for projects, including the Ivanhoe Line, with a decision on the next tranche to progress anticipated later this year.

The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) certificate trading scheme is successfully supporting a market for low carbon fuels in the UK, including biodiesel. Hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) is a type of biodiesel. Those supplying HVO for use in road vehicles in the UK, and which meets sustainability criteria, are eligible for reward under the RTFO scheme.

There is no funding programme specifically for local authorities switching to fuel their existing fleets with HVO, and there are no current plans to introduce such a programme. The primary support for the wider deployment of HVO is the RTFO scheme, which provides a competitive market for a broad range of low carbon fuels.

Local authorities are well placed to determine how best to decarbonise their vehicle fleets. The Department is supporting this through a grant provided by the Energy Savings Trust. This provides tailored outreach advice to local authorities in support of the development and implementation of their own transport decarbonisation strategies, including advice on the decarbonisation of their own vehicle fleets. Later this year the Department will also publish a transport decarbonisation toolkit for local authorities, which will provide guidance to support local areas to deliver more sustainable transport measures including decarbonising their own fleets.

Following National Highways’ trial of roadside funnel bins in 2017 at Lymm Truckstop, a further 44 bins have been installed including at Sandbach and Maidstone Service Areas. National Highways continue to work with Motorway Service Area (MSA) operators to encourage them to install bins and trial different interventions to influence drivers to dispose of their rubbish responsibly.

More broadly, National Highways has commissioned charity Keep Britain Tidy to carry out research into littering behaviour on the Strategic Road Network (SRN). The behavioural insights and outputs from this research will be used by National Highways to implement targeted campaigns including social media campaigns, improvements to rest areas, installation of more drive-up bins, distribution of ‘pinned bins’, and engagement with families and employees.

An evidence review of the health effects of access to greenspace, including gardening was published by Public Health England in 2020. It found evidence that exposure to greenspaces can promote and protect good health and aid in recovery from illness and help with managing poor mental and physical health. The evidence review is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/904439/Improving_access_to_greenspace_2020_review.pdf

The Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan includes specific measures such a cross-Government project on tackling mental ill-health through green social prescribing and a national framework of green infrastructure standards to ensure new developments include accessible green spaces and areas with little or no green space can be improved for the benefit of the community. The Plan is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/693158/25-year-environment-plan.pdf

The Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) national specialty report on gastroenterology was published in September 2021. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is one of the conditions covered under gastroenterological services in the report. The report sets out actions and recommendations to improve patient care in gastroenterology. The aim is to reduce unwarranted variation in treatments and services in, which will ensure consistent care is provided to IBD patients across the country.

The GIRFT programme is now embedded within NHS England and NHS Improvement’s programmes to improve quality and productivity, so that best practice is adopted throughout the NHS. NHS England and NHS Improvement are encouraging individual sites to evaluate how best to take forward these recommendations. The recommendation on IBD is estimated to reduce emergency admissions by 6,600 per year. The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement expect National Health Service trusts and clinical teams to consider how best they can implement these recommendations for individuals to ensure the consistent and high quality care for IBD and other gastroenterological conditions.

The Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) national specialty report on gastroenterology was published in September 2021. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is one of the conditions covered under gastroenterological services in the report. The report sets out actions and recommendations to improve patient care in gastroenterology. The aim is to reduce unwarranted variation in treatments and services in, which will ensure consistent care is provided to IBD patients across the country.

The GIRFT programme is now embedded within NHS England and NHS Improvement’s programmes to improve quality and productivity, so that best practice is adopted throughout the NHS. NHS England and NHS Improvement are encouraging individual sites to evaluate how best to take forward these recommendations. The recommendation on IBD is estimated to reduce emergency admissions by 6,600 per year. The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement expect National Health Service trusts and clinical teams to consider how best they can implement these recommendations for individuals to ensure the consistent and high quality care for IBD and other gastroenterological conditions.

The Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) national specialty report on gastroenterology was published in September 2021. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is one of the conditions covered under gastroenterological services in the report. The report sets out actions and recommendations to improve patient care in gastroenterology. The aim is to reduce unwarranted variation in treatments and services in, which will ensure consistent care is provided to IBD patients across the country.

The GIRFT programme is now embedded within NHS England and NHS Improvement’s programmes to improve quality and productivity, so that best practice is adopted throughout the NHS. NHS England and NHS Improvement are encouraging individual sites to evaluate how best to take forward these recommendations. The recommendation on IBD is estimated to reduce emergency admissions by 6,600 per year. The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement expect National Health Service trusts and clinical teams to consider how best they can implement these recommendations for individuals to ensure the consistent and high quality care for IBD and other gastroenterological conditions.

The majority of services for people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are commissioned locally by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), who are allocated funding from NHS England and NHS Improvement using the CCG funding allocation formula. This formula takes into consideration attributes of local populations to assess the level of need.

NHS England and NHS Improvement commission some specialist services for patients with complex IBD. Funding decisions for these are made in line with local priorities and in the context of the interim funding regime in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The UK's Integrated Review sets out the UK Government's commitment to fighting corruption and illicit finance as threats to democratic values and open societies around the world. We are fully committed to supporting South Africa's fight against corruption, which President Ramaphosa has identified as one of his priorities. We work closely with the South African authorities including through our law enforcement agencies to facilitate intelligence sharing, evidence gathering and the recovery of criminal proceeds.

Under the UK Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions regime, the UK imposed sanctions against Ajay Gupta, Atul Gupta, Rajesh Gupta and Salim Essa in May 2021 for their roles in serious corruption which caused significant damage to the South African economy. As a long-standing friend of South Africa, the UK will continue to partner closely with the South African authorities, business and civil society on a shared agenda of security, economic and social issues.

Full budgets per country and a final audited spend for 2021/22 will be published in due course, including in our regular Statistics on International Development and in the FCDO Annual Report and Accounts.

The Government is committed to striking a careful balance between improving broad access to financial markets, while also ensuring that appropriate protection measures are in place. This reflects the Government’s broader ambition to ensure that the benefits of corporate growth can be broadly shared, while ensuring financial markets work effectively for all market participants.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the UK’s independent financial markets conduct regulator and is responsible for protecting consumers. The FCA has published several statements about the potential risks of investing in securities and has warned consumers that that any losses that result from such investments are not always covered under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Similarly, the FCA has banned the sale of cryptoasset derivatives to retail consumers, and has issued a warning stating that consumers who invest in cryptoassets should be prepared to lose their money.

Furthermore, on 18 January 2022, the government set out its intention to legislate later this year to bring certain cryptoassets into financial promotion regulation.

No assessment has been made. In line with its statutory duties, the independent OBR publish the fiscal impact of any government policy that is introduced as part of the Budget process.

DCMS is considering the responses to its call for evidence, along with Gambling Commission proposals, and expect to publish a response document setting out any conclusions and consulting on next steps by the end of the year.

The Government published a Call for Evidence on 21 July 2020, as part of its Fundamental Review of Business Rates, to gather views from stakeholders on all elements of the Business Rates system and alternatives, including an Online Sales Tax.

Officials engaged with a broad range of stakeholders including online retailers as part of that process.

The Government provided a summary of responses to the Call for Evidence in March 2021. The review will conclude later this year.

The Government’s private finance objective for the upcoming COP26 climate change forum is to ensure that every professional financial decision takes climate change into account. The recovery from COVID-19 will determine the mitigation and adaptation pathways for decades to come.

The finance campaign will provide the conditions for a future that is genuinely greener, more resilient and more sustainable than the past. Action on finance underpins all the other COP campaigns: adaptation & resilience, energy transition, nature and zero-emission vehicles. Without the right levels of finance, the rest is not possible.

The Government has already taken actions to signal a commitment to green technology, including a pledge to make Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) aligned financial disclosures mandatory across the economy by 2025, making the UK the first G20 nation to make such a commitment.

Additionally, the Government has committed to the implementation of a green taxonomy. This will allow us to accelerate our work towards a greener financial sector, by providing a common definition for environmentally sustainable economy activities

The Cryptoasset Taskforce, comprising HM Treasury, the Financial Conduct Authority , and the Bank of England, considers the impact of cryptoassets and assesses what, if any, regulation is required in response. The Government stands ready to respond to emerging risks or changes in the market and will continue to monitor developments in cryptoassets.

Information relating to the number of complaints received by the FCA was published in the FCA’s response to the Complaints Commissioner’s Annual Report in July 2020. This information is available on the FCA’s website.

The Seasonal Worker visa route has been extended until the end of 2024, at which point the position will be reviewed. This does not mean we expect there to be no reliance on overseas labour at this point, but the sector cannot be in the same position as it is now.

The number of visas will begin to taper down from 2023, as the government is encouraging all sectors to adapt and make employment more attractive to UK domestic 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 DWP to raise awareness of career opportunities within the horticulture sector among resident workers.

This year will see up to 30,000 temporary visas available, but this will be kept under review with the potential to increase by 10,000 if there is strong evidence to do so. Releasing additional quota places does not require a legislative change.

There are no plans to extend the grant period for Seasonal Workers to nine months.

The Seasonal Worker visa route has been extended until the end of 2024, at which point the position will be reviewed. This does not mean we expect there to be no reliance on overseas labour at this point, but the sector cannot be in the same position as it is now.

The number of visas will begin to taper down from 2023, as the government is encouraging all sectors to adapt and make employment more attractive to UK domestic 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 DWP to raise awareness of career opportunities within the horticulture sector among resident workers.

This year will see up to 30,000 temporary visas available, but this will be kept under review with the potential to increase by 10,000 if there is strong evidence to do so. Releasing additional quota places does not require a legislative change.

There are no plans to extend the grant period for Seasonal Workers to nine months.

The Seasonal Worker visa route has been extended until the end of 2024, at which point the position will be reviewed. This does not mean we expect there to be no reliance on overseas labour at this point, but the sector cannot be in the same position as it is now.

The number of visas will begin to taper down from 2023, as the government is encouraging all sectors to adapt and make employment more attractive to UK domestic 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 DWP to raise awareness of career opportunities within the horticulture sector among resident workers.

This year will see up to 30,000 temporary visas available, but this will be kept under review with the potential to increase by 10,000 if there is strong evidence to do so. Releasing additional quota places does not require a legislative change.

There are no plans to extend the grant period for Seasonal Workers to nine months.

The Seasonal Worker visa route has been extended until the end of 2024, at which point the position will be reviewed. This does not mean we expect there to be no reliance on overseas labour at this point, but the sector cannot be in the same position as it is now.

The number of visas will begin to taper down from 2023, as the government is encouraging all sectors to adapt and make employment more attractive to UK domestic 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 DWP to raise awareness of career opportunities within the horticulture sector among resident workers.

This year will see up to 30,000 temporary visas available, but this will be kept under review with the potential to increase by 10,000 if there is strong evidence to do so. Releasing additional quota places does not require a legislative change.

There are no plans to extend the grant period for Seasonal Workers to nine months.

The Seasonal Worker visa route has been extended until the end of 2024, at which point the position will be reviewed. This does not mean we expect there to be no reliance on overseas labour at this point, but the sector cannot be in the same position as it is now.

The number of visas will begin to taper down from 2023, as the government is encouraging all sectors to adapt and make employment more attractive to UK domestic 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 DWP to raise awareness of career opportunities within the horticulture sector among resident workers.

This year will see up to 30,000 temporary visas available, but this will be kept under review with the potential to increase by 10,000 if there is strong evidence to do so. Releasing additional quota places does not require a legislative change.

There are no plans to extend the grant period for Seasonal Workers to nine months.