MPs who grilled Newton Rigg bosses at an inquiry are set to raise their concerns about land-based education with the Government.
Dr Tim Whitaker, chief executive of Askham Bryan College, and Judith Clapham, its director of governance, were summoned to appear before the Environment, Food and Rural and Affairs Select Committee as part of an inquiry into land-based education.
The committee also heard from Lord Inglewood, chairman of Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership and Jo Lappin, the partnership’s chief executive.
A statement released after the inquiry by the committee said: “Following a one-off evidence session on land-based education provision in England, MPs on the House of Commons EFRA Committee are to raise concerns about national delivery of education for agriculture and the environment.
“In the session, the cross-party group of MPs were left with a clear impression of the need for continued land-based education provision at Newton Rigg in Cumbria, and of the wider issues faced by the sector.
“The committee heard how a recent decline in the number of land-based graduates, and the lack of incentives to upskill the existing agricultural workforce could have knock-on effects for delivering the Government’s ambitious targets to improve the environment and the supply of high-quality British food.
“The committee has asked the witnesses for further information. It will then be writing to the Government to press it on its national strategy for land-based skills, and how it will support local colleges to deliver it.”
Neil Parish, chair of the committee, said: “The Government has ambitious targets to restore woodland and natural habits, and to deliver on its new Environmental Land Management scheme in farming.
“This will be impossible without highly skilled land managers and farmers and the institutions to train them.
“My committee will be writing to the Government to seek answers to the issues raised today, not least the strong calls for a national strategy for land-based education raised by our witnesses.”
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