The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee has launched an inquiry to explore the relationship between education and land-based industries.

It also wants to analyse the effectiveness of current primary, secondary, further and higher education in “embedding awareness and equipping students with the skills and knowledge necessary”. 

The deadline for submissions is 11:55p.m on Friday, November 3, 2023.

The committee said it will examine existing and potential initiatives aimed at promoting the career opportunities in land-based sectors and will consider any examples of best practice for this.

This includes both in the UK and abroad, and it will consider what more can be done to facilitate new entrants into land-based industries, including people from non-rural backgrounds and those considering a career change.

The committee said it will also consider the accessibility and availability of land-based courses and how equipped institutions are to teach them.  

The EFRA Committee is seeking views that address any or all of the following issues:

  • How can the understanding and awareness of career opportunities in land-based sectors be improved among children and young adults?;
  • How effective is the education system at supporting young people seeking careers in land-based sectors?;
  • What more can be done to facilitate new entrants, including those from non-rural backgrounds, into land-based sectors, including those considering a career change?;
  • Are colleges offering land-based education accessible and available to those seeking to enrol in courses? Are there gaps in coverage and if so, how can these be addressed?;
  • Do colleges offering land-based education have the appropriate facilities and funding to enable effective teaching? What more can be done to make this teaching more effective?;
  • What role should schools, colleges, universities, and local and central government play in promoting and supporting careers in land-based sectors?;
  • How can more children, young people and adults be provided with opportunities to see the career opportunities in land-based sectors first-hand? Are there examples of initiatives doing this successfully?
  • Are there domestic or international examples of best practice in successfully promoting educational opportunities and careers in land-based sectors?

Making a submission

Written evidence must address the terms of reference, but the EFRA Committee stresses that submissions do not have to address every point. 

The committee will decide whether to accept each submission. If a submission is accepted by the committee, it will usually be published online.

It will then be available permanently for anyone to view. It can’t be changed or removed. If there is a name or any personal information included in the submission, that will normally be published too.

The committee asked potential contributors to consider how much personal information they want or need to share. 

“If you include personal information about other people in your submission, the committee may decide not to publish it. Your contact details will never be published,” the EFRA Committee said.

“Decisions about publishing evidence anonymously, or about accepting but not publishing evidence, are made by the committee. 

“If you would like to ask the committee to accept your submission anonymously (meaning it will be published but without your name), or confidentially (meaning it won’t be published at all), you can make this request when you upload your submission.”

The committee said it has discretion over which submissions it accepts as evidence, and which of those it then publishes on its website.

“We may anonymise or redact some of your submission if it is published. The committee may decide to accept evidence on a confidential basis,” it said.

“Confidential submissions remain available to the committee but are not published or referred to in public. All written evidence will be considered by the committee, whether or not it is published.

“If your evidence raises any safeguarding concerns about you, or other people, then the committee has a duty to raise these with the appropriate safeguarding authority.”

DEFRA EDUCATION EFRA COMMITTEE