Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to take further steps to support the horticulture sector in developing responsibly-sourced high-quality alternatives to peat that can be produced at volume.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
In 2011 we set a voluntary target for the horticulture sector to be peat-free by 2030. Since then, we have contributed towards research into peat-free alternatives including the Royal Horticultural Society’s five-year, £1 million project supporting the transition to peat-free. Forestry England have also invested significantly in developing peat-free production methods.
The Government and industry will continue to support a Responsible Sourcing Scheme for Growing Media, which minimises any environmental footprint of peat alternatives.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
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 difference between (a) arboriculture and amenity trees and (b) forestry and woodland.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In the process of creating the England Trees Action Plan, the Government hosted a series of workshops and round table events to engage with partners and stakeholders, specifically regarding individual amenity trees in towns and cities and urban trees. These events included representatives from the arboriculture sector and local authority tree officers.
This process provided the assessment and analysis necessary for the formulation of policies included in the England Trees Action Plan that recognise the implicit and explicit differences in how trees are managed and cared for in the context of arboriculture and forestry; The Plan states “a skilled workforce will plant and manage trees and woodlands. Trees, woodlands, forestry and arboriculture will be important sources of jobs and revenue across England”.1
Action 1.12 of the England Trees Action Plan states that Government will: “Publish guidance for local authorities to develop their own local tree and woodland strategies”. [1] This guidance is currently being produced in partnership with the Tree Council, and further identifies the differences of management between individual amenity trees (arboriculture) and the multiplicity of impacts on them and woodland management, recognising that they are different disciplines requiring different skills and experience.
[1] The England Trees Action Plan (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what specific discussions (a) she and (b) officials in her Department have had with (i) Cabinet colleagues and (ii) officials in other Government departments on assessing the (A) feasibility and (B) impact of a 2024 horticulture peat ban date on the UK horticulture industry; and if he will publish the (1) evidential basis and (2) assessments made to reach the decision of 2024 as the date for that ban.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Prior to publishing the consultation on ending the sale of peat and peat containing products in horticulture in England and Wales, we consulted with all relevant Government departments.
During our consultation, we completed an assessment of the economic impact of the proposed measures. This assessment can be found here: Consultation Impact Assessment Ending the Retail Sale of Peat in Horticulture in England and Wales.pdf (defra.gov.uk). This impact assessment builds on over ten years of close engagement with the horticulture sector that saw the adoption of voluntary targets for the amateur sector to be peat free by 2020.
Following the analysis of all consultation responses, the Government will publish a full response outlining our plans for ending the sale of peat and peat containing products in horticulture.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department made an assessment of the economic impact of a horticulture peat ban on the UK horticulture industry before announcing a consultation on a 2024 ban in retail.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Prior to publishing the consultation on ending the sale of peat and peat containing products in horticulture in England and Wales, we consulted with all relevant Government departments.
During our consultation, we completed an assessment of the economic impact of the proposed measures. This assessment can be found here: Consultation Impact Assessment Ending the Retail Sale of Peat in Horticulture in England and Wales.pdf (defra.gov.uk). This impact assessment builds on over ten years of close engagement with the horticulture sector that saw the adoption of voluntary targets for the amateur sector to be peat free by 2020.
Following the analysis of all consultation responses, the Government will publish a full response outlining our plans for ending the sale of peat and peat containing products in horticulture.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
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 his Department has had with the ornamental horticulture sector on seasonal worker recruitment.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government recognises the importance of the ornamental horticultural sector to local economies and that a reliable source of seasonal labour is a key part of bringing in the harvest for the sector. I met with the Ornamental Horticulture Roundtable Group most recently in December 2021 where we discussed the skills and labour challenges the industry is facing.
Defra continues to speak regularly with the sector and other Government departments to understand labour supply and demand, including both permanent and seasonal workforce requirements, and to ensure there is a long-term strategy for the farming workforce.
Defra is specifically working with industry and the Department for Work and Pensions to raise awareness of career opportunities in the horticulture sector among UK workers. All farming businesses are encouraged to advertise roles through the Find A Job website, where they can upload and manage their vacancies.
The Government has announced that the Seasonal Worker Visa Route will be extended to 2024 to allow 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 this year. This will be kept under review with the potential to increase by 10,000 visas if there is clear evidence of need.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what procedures or studies her Department has put in place to monitor the availability of people with EU Settled Status to work in seasonal worker roles in (a) ornamental horticulture and (b) horticulture.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Defra works across Government and with industry throughout the year to observe the latest data on the composition of the UK horticultural workforce and to share this knowledge. This includes the availability of workers with EU Settled Status for these roles.
In 2022 and beyond, agricultural businesses will continue to be able to rely on EU nationals living in the UK with settled or pre-settled status. Over 5.6 million EU citizens and their families have been granted settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, as of December 2021. EU nationals who have settled status can continue to travel to the UK to do seasonal work in 2022 and beyond.
On 24 December 2021, the Government also announced that the Seasonal Worker Visa Route has been extended to 2024 to allow 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.
In addition to these schemes, Defra is also working with the Department for Work and Pensions to raise awareness of career opportunities within the edible and ornamental horticulture sectors among UK workers, some of whom may have EU settled status.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what procedures or studies his Department has put in place to monitor and communicate the availability of people with EU Settled Status in returning to seasonal worker roles in the horticulture and ornamental horticulture sectors.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Defra works across Government and with industry throughout the year to observe the latest data on the composition of the UK horticultural workforce and to share this knowledge. This includes the availability of workers with EU Settled Status for these roles.
In 2022 and beyond, agricultural businesses will continue to be able to rely on EU nationals living in the UK with settled or pre-settled status. Over 5.6 million EU citizens and their families have been granted settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, as of December 2021. EU nationals who have settled status can continue to travel to the UK to do seasonal work in 2022 and beyond.
On 24 December 2021, the Government also announced that the Seasonal Worker Visa Route has been extended to 2024 to allow 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.
In addition to these schemes, Defra is also working with the Department for Work and Pensions to raise awareness of career opportunities within the edible and ornamental horticulture sectors among UK workers, some of whom may have EU settled status.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to expand its existing tree nursery production scheme.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In the England Trees Action Plan the Government committed to provide funding to support UK public and private sector nurseries and seed suppliers to enhance the quantity, quality, diversity and biosecurity of domestic tree production. Our interventions will help the sector to modernise existing facilities and explore innovative technologies and practices. This is necessary to create a resilient, healthy, and genetically diverse planting stock.
In the past year £1 million has been made available through the Tree Production Innovation Fund to encourage adoption of new technologies and ways of working, and a further £2.6 million has been made available in capital grants to support climate and disease resilience and expand nursery capacity. We are also exploring new data sharing practices to help better plan for supply and demand in the sector. This will support nurseries and seed suppliers to produce the right stock at the right time.
We continue to work to monitor our interventions and see how the nursery sector can best be supported.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to consult on the introduction of a statutory tree planting target.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As set out in the Net Zero Strategy, we will explore a long-term statutory tree target in England as part of the suite of targets to be introduced using powers in the Environment Act.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the ornamental horticulture and landscaping industry’s potential to support the UK’s environmental targets.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Defra regularly meets with the Ornamental Horticulture Roundtable Group, who recently published their ‘Unlocking green growth: A plan from the ornamental horticulture & landscaping industry’. This ambitious report sets out the industry’s potential contributions to delivering the 25 Year Environment Plan, and how it can help to underwrite the environmental challenges facing the UK.
In the past year £1 million has been made available through the Tree Production Innovation Fund to encourage adoption of new technologies and ways of working, and a further £2.6 million has been made available in capital grants to support climate and disease resilience and expand nursery capacity. We are also exploring new data sharing practices to help better plan for supply and demand in the sector. This will support nurseries and seed suppliers to produce the right stock at the right time.
We will be publishing a public consultation on proposed long-term targets to be set under the Environment Act 2021. During the consultation we will be interested in hearing the views of all interested sectors, and the delivery of targets will require actions across the economy.