Having recently visited a North Wales Garden Centre with the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA), where concerns were raised about the future of the horticultural and landscaping industry in Wales, North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has asked the Welsh Government what support it is providing for the sector.
Mr Isherwood raised the matter with the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs in yesterday’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament and asked whether he would work with the Education Secretary to respond to the HTA’s call for the Welsh Government to work with the industry to ensure that the skills system delivers for the current and future skills requirements of the environmental horticultural sector.
Speaking in the Senedd Chamber, he said:
“In 2019, the environmental horticulture and landscaping industry in Wales supported contributions of £1.125 billion to UK Gross Domestic Product, supported the employment of 31,168 people, and delivered huge social, environmental and health benefits.
“I recently visited Daleside Garden Centre in Hawarden with the Horticultural Trades Association, or HTA, to learn more about the work of the Centre, and to discuss issues including HTA's ‘Environmental Horticulture Growth Strategy - a vision for Wales', their call for a long-term UK water resilience Strategy, peat-free growing, and how skills are a key challenge for the sector.
“How will you therefore work with the Education Secretary to respond to their call for the Welsh Government to work with industry to ensure that the skills system delivers for the current and future skills requirements of the environmental horticulture sector?”
In his response, the Cabinet Secretary said:
“I will definitely be working with the skills sector on this. We consider the horticultural sector not only an important sector, but one that has potential for significant growth as well. We know how far behind the curve we are in Wales in terms of the horticultural sector. It's a diverse sector, but we need to do far more there.”