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 incorporate farming apprenticeships into its policies on national food (a) security and (b) strategy.

Defra continues to speak regularly with the agricultural sector and other Government departments, including the Department for Education, and industry bodies to understand labour supply and demand, including both permanent and seasonal workforce requirements, and to ensure there is a long-term strategy for the agricultural workforce.

As announced in the Government Food Strategy in June, the Government has now commissioned an independent review which will consider how automation, domestic labour and migrant labour can contribute to tackling labour shortages in the food supply chain. As part of domestic labour, we will consider recruitment, retention, skills and progression in the food sector. The review will focus on farming, processing, and food and drink manufacturing as sectors which are critical for food production and food security.

There are currently 40 high-quality apprenticeship standards available in the agriculture, environmental and animal care sector, including stockperson, crop technician and horticulture & landscape technical manager.