House of Commons
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee
Evidence Session: Tuesday 23 March 2.30pm
This session will be held virtually and will be available to watch on parliamentlive.tv
The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee will be holding a one-off session on land-based education provision in England. A highly skilled land-based sector will be required to deliver the Government’s new Environmental Land Management scheme and targets to expand woodlands and restore other habitats. MPs will investigate the current provision of education in areas such as agriculture and forestry, and any implications for Government policy. This will include looking at the example of the provision of land-based education in Cumbria and the impact of the planned closure of Newton Rigg College.
Witnesses to appear are as follows:
Panel one, at 2.30pm:
- Tom Bradshaw, Vice President, National Farmers Union
- Shireen Chambers MBE, Executive Director, Institute of Chartered Foresters
- Alex Payne, Chief Executive, Landex
Panel two, at approx. 3.30pm:
- Lord Inglewood, Chair, Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership
- Jo Lappin, CEO, Cumbria local enterprise partnership
- Dr Tim Whitaker, Chief Executive Officer, Askham Bryan College
- Judith Clapham, Director of Governance, Askham Bryan College
MP for Penrith and the Border and Member of the Committee, Dr Neil Hudson said: “I very much welcome that our cross party Commons EFRA Select Committee has decided to hold an inquiry into land-based education in England, with a specific focus on Cumbria and the impact of the situation at Newton Rigg College. This sector is so important to the rural economy of Cumbria and the wider UK and it is important that we evaluate the Newton Rigg situation so that we can work together with stakeholders on the provision of land-based education in Cumbria aiming for a new Newton Rigg to emerge.”
A full list of Committee membership can be found here.
EFRA Committee Media enquiries to Emily Pritchard pritcharde@parliament.uk / 07734 974282
Committee website: Click here
Committee Twitter: @CommonsEFRA
Specific Committee information:
efracom@parliament.uk / 020 7219 5528
