Horticultural Sector Committee: how inclusive is the horticultural sector to people from all walks of life?

• Lilidh Matthews, Treasurer, Young People in Horticulture Association
• Tayshan Hayden-Smith, Founder, Grow2Know
• Lee Connelly, The Skinny Jean Gardener.

At 11.30am the committee will hear from:

• Emma Birkbeck, Founding member, Women in Horticulture
• Kathryn Rossiter, CEO, Thrive.

These evidence sessions, which are open to the public, will be held in Committee Room 3 of the House of Lords and streamed live on Parliament TV.

Topics the committee is likely to cover in these sessions include:

• How well schools support children and young people to learn about plants and growing.
  
  
• Attractiveness and accessibility of careers to young people today.
  
  
• Barriers to entry into the horticultural sector faced by young people from diverse backgrounds.
  
  
• Challenges faced by women and people from ethnically diverse backgrounds working in the horticultural sector.
  
  
• Opportunities the horticultural sector offers people with long-term health conditions and disabilities.

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.