Horticultural Sector Committee: inquiry to hear evidence on labour and skills
Wednesday 22 March 2023
On Thursday 23 March the House of Lords Horticultural Sector Committee will be taking oral evidence from two panels of witnesses.
On Thursday 23 March the House of Lords Horticultural Sector Committee will be taking oral evidence from two panels of witnesses.
At 10.30am the committee will hear from:
- Janet Swadling, Chief Executive, The Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture
- John Shropshire, Chair of G’s Fresh and Chair of the Independent Review into Labour Shortages in the Food Supply Chain.
At 11.30am the committee will hear from:
- Alex Payne, Chief Executive, Landex
- Tim Hughes, Head of Learning and Participation, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
These evidence sessions, which are open to the public, will be held in Committee Room 4 of the House of Lords and streamed live on Parliament TV.
Topics the committee is likely to cover in these sessions include:
- Labour issues impacting the horticultural sector today.
- Skills challenges in the horticultural labour force.
- The success of the seasonal workers scheme in alleviating labour shortages.
- Effectiveness of the education system in preparing young people with the skills that the horticultural sector needs.
- Attractiveness of the horticultural sector to jobseekers.
- Skills required to be successful in horticultural careers today and in the future.
- Careers advice, information and guidance provided to young people today.
More about this inquiry
The cross-party Horticultural Sector Committee is considering the challenges, opportunities and risks faced by the horticultural sector, including the impact of rising input costs and labour and skills shortages, and how innovative technologies might address these issues and other pressing challenges such as the impact of climate change on productivity and food supply. In addition, it will explore how policy can support the sector in meeting the Government’s ambitions for levelling up and post-Brexit trade policy. It will publish its report by the end of this year.
Last month the committee published a call for evidence. The deadline for the submissions is 6pm on Monday 10 April 2023.
