Aim of the Inquiry

The House of Lords Committee on the Horticultural Sector was appointed in January 2023. It is chaired by Lord Rupert Redesdale and will report by 30 November 2023.

Horticulture is a branch of agriculture that relates to the production, cultivation and management of edible fruits and vegetables, and ornamental plants. The horticultural sector is worth billions to the UK economy and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs, including seasonal workers from overseas. It is also a significant contributor to UK food security and UK tourism.

This inquiry will consider the challenges faced by the horticultural sector in England, including scrutiny of the Government’s forthcoming Horticulture Strategy for England. It will assess how rising input costs and labour and skills shortages are impacting the sector, 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.

This is a public call for written evidence to be submitted to the Committee. The deadline is 6pm on 10 April 2023.

The Committee is keen to hear from a diverse range of individuals and organisations. In particular, if you work with young people or seasonal workers, we would be grateful if you are able to share this call for evidence with them. To ensure the voice of those working in the sector is central to our inquiry, the Committee is planning to engage directly with those willing to share their views and experiences later in the year.

Questions

The Committee is seeking written submissions addressing any or all of the following topics in relation to the horticultural sector in England:

• Key challenges, risks, and opportunities facing the sector
• The impact of climate change on the sector, and how it can be mitigated
• Skills and recruitment challenges, particularly in relation to skilled jobs
• The availability of funding for science, research and development to enable innovation
• Benefits and challenges of implementing technological developments, particularly those that help combat climate change and its effects
• Resources and guidance available to organisations within the sector to i) implement new technology; ii) reduce their environmental impact
• The impact of trade on i) UK businesses ii) the environment and iii) bio- and phytosanitary issues
• Lessons learned from horticultural policy and practice from overseas, or from the devolved administrations
• The effectiveness of Government planning and policymaking in relation to horticulture
• The impact of recent legislation on the sector, including the Agriculture Act 2020 and the Environment Act 2021
• Horticulture’s contribution to mental and physical health

Further details

Substantive communications to the Committee about the inquiry should be addressed to the Clerk, whether or not they are intended to constitute formal evidence to the Committee.

You may follow the progress of the inquiry at the following link: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/648/horticultural-sector-committee/.

Guidance for submissions

Submitting written evidence

Written submissions may be submitted online in Word document format. This page also provides guidance on submitting evidence. All submissions made through the written submission form should receive an on-screen confirmation once the evidence has been submitted.

If you have difficulty making a written submission on the online portal for any reason, you may contact us in a number of ways:

• Via email: hlhorticulture@parliament.uk
• Via social media: Send us a tweet or direct message @HLHorticulture
• Via post: Clerk to the Select Committee on the Horticultural Sector, Committee Office, House of Lords, London SW1A 0PW

Guidelines for written evidence

Short, concise submissions are preferred, and submissions longer than 6 pages should include a one-page summary. Please ensure the submission is free of logos and signatures. Paragraphs should be numbered, and submissions should be dated.

Submissions should make a note of the author’s name, and of whether the author is acting in an individual or corporate capacity. Submissions with a university or college address should make clear whether they are submitted in an individual capacity or on behalf of the university or college.

You should be careful not to comment on individual cases currently before a court of law or matters in respect of which court proceedings are imminent. If you anticipate such issues arising, you should discuss with the Clerk to the Committee via email how this might affect your submission.

The Committee cannot accept anything that has not been prepared specifically in response to this call for evidence, or that has been published elsewhere.

Accepting evidence

Submissions become the property of the Committee, which will decide whether to accept them as evidence. Once you have received acknowledgement via email that your submission has been accepted as evidence, you may publicise or publish it yourself, but in doing so you must indicate that it was prepared for the Committee. If you publish your evidence separately, you should be aware that you will be legally responsible for its content.

Publication

Evidence that is accepted by the Committee may be published online at any stage; when it is published it becomes subject to parliamentary copyright and is protected by parliamentary privilege. It will normally appear on the Committee’s website and will be deposited in the Parliamentary Archives.

Personal contact details will be removed from evidence before publication but will be retained by the Committee Office and used for specific purposes relating to the Committee’s work, for instance to seek additional information.

In certain circumstances the Committee may be prepared to accept submissions but not to publish them, in whole or in part. If you would like to submit evidence on this basis you should first discuss this with the Clerk to the Committee via email.