We review our requirements to address the particular threats faced by the UK when appropriate. Our policy is to compete wherever possible, whilst ensuring that UK companies have the greatest possible opportunity to bid into our programmes.

It is a priority of this Government to enable an innovative, productive and competitive food supply chain, which invests in its people and skills.

Defra Ministers have ongoing discussions with a wide range of stakeholders about securing the workforce that the food and farming industry needs for the future.

The new Food and Drink Sector Council provides a valuable focus on skills and talent in the food chain through a new partnership between industry and government. The Council was announced in the Government’s Industrial Strategy and is a formal industry partnership with government which aims to improve the productivity and sustainability of the entire food chain.

The Council has established Workforce and Agricultural Productivity Working Groups: these are industry-led and will have a key role to play in identifying and addressing skills gaps, as well as promoting the food chain as a great place to work.

The Secretary of State attended a Sector Council meeting on 17 October 2018 where he acknowledged the Council’s concerns arising from the UK’s departure from the EU, which included a reliance on a European workforce. In concluding discussions at the meeting it was agreed that the Council had an important role to play in alerting Government to key issues and helping shape potential solutions.

The UK’s current production to supply ratio is 60% for all food and 75% for indigenous-type foods. This has remained steady over the last decade and is not low in the context of the past 150 years. For example, in the 1930s the overall rate was between 30% and 40%, while in the late 1950s this had risen to just over 50%. Below is an outline of the production to supply ratio over the last five years. The data is published and available on the gov.uk website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/food-statistics-pocketbook/food-statistics-in-your-pocket-global-and-uk-supply

UK Food Production to Supply Ratio

As we leave the EU we want to support farmers to grow more, sell more and export more great British food. Productivity is the key driver of long-term economic growth and prosperity. Our future agriculture policy will allow farmers to provide a supply of healthy, home-grown produce made to high environmental and animal welfare standards. The future policy will be underpinned by measures to increase productivity and invest in new technology. This will help farmers become more profitable and reduce their environmental footprint. Leaving the EU is an opportunity to boost domestic productivity through research, adoption of best practice, investment in new tools and technologies and adoption of new business models.

Further preparation for our withdrawal is continuing to be undertaken across the whole of government to consider how we best manage checks and controls in a range of scenarios. We have been very clear that when we leave the EU, we will categorically not dilute our world-leading set of standards on food safety and quality. We are committed to upholding these with robust and independent scientific and technical advice. Any products entering the UK market must meet our high standards of quality and safety.

The UK has a high degree of food security, built on access to a range of sources including strong domestic production and imports from third countries. Consumers will continue to have access to a range of different products when we leave the EU.

The Climate Change Act 2008 requires the Government to produce, every five years, an assessment of the risks to the United Kingdom arising from current and predicted climate change. Government published its second Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) in January 2017 which endorses six priority risk areas identified by the independent evidence report produced by the Adaptation Sub-Committee in July 2016. This included risks to domestic and international food production and trade and potential opportunities from long-term, climate-related changes in global food production.

The CCRA notes a number of potential risks to UK agricultural production arising from, for example, vulnerability to water shortages, pests and disease, and extreme weather events. The report also observes that warmer weather and longer growing seasons may improve agricultural productivity.

The second National Adaptation Programme, published in July 2018, sets out how we aim to tackle the risks to domestic and international food production and trade that England is facing from a changing climate. For example, Government’s commitment to review and publish the updated UK Food Security Assessment.

The Government is committed to taking action to mitigate climate change and to adapt to its impact. As the cornerstone of future agriculture policy, the new environmental land management system will use public money for the provision of public goods, including supporting farmers and other land managers to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Agricultural greenhouse gas emissions have reduced by 16% since 1990, with many farms using more efficient agricultural practices. Land use, land use change and forestry continue to provide benefits in carbon sequestration. The Government recognises the importance of reducing emissions further in these sectors. The Clean Growth Strategy and the 25 Year Environment Plan set out the Government’s ambition for how this will be achieved.

The Government aims to secure a deep and comprehensive free trade deal with the EU that continues to provide for frictionless, tariff-free trade, supporting the continued success of our agricultural sectors. Our departure from the EU also provides an opportunity for the UK to have an independent trade policy and a new agriculture policy which enables game producers and other sectors to improve their productivity and competitiveness outside of the EU, while also improving our environment. We remain confident in the resilience of our agricultural sectors and their ability to thrive outside of the EU.

Defra understands the importance of labour in supporting a successful and effective agricultural sector, and is considering how best to support the needs of the sector both before and after the UK withdraws from the EU.

We have announced that the Government will introduce a new pilot scheme for 2019 and 2020, enabling up to 2,500 non-European Economic Area migrant workers to come to the UK to undertake seasonal employment in the edible horticultural sector.

Defra is also working closely with the Home Office to ensure that there is a long term strategy for the food and farming workforce as part of the future immigration policy.

Defra is working with industry to raise awareness of the career opportunities within the agriculture and food industry to attract domestic workers, and is exploring the potential for innovation and automation in meeting future labour demands.

Our mission is to put the UK at the forefront of the design and manufacturing of zero emission vehicles, and for all new cars and vans to be effectively zero emission by 2040. The Road to Zero Strategy sets out a clear pathway to zero emissions, to give clarity and certainty to both industry and motorists.

In 2017, 1 in 8 battery electric cars sold in Europe was made in the UK; in the first half of 2018 this figure reached 1 in 5. In 2017 the UK was the second largest market for ULEVs in the EU and third largest in Europe as a whole.

By 2030 we want at least half of new cars sold, and as many as 70%, to be ultra low emission, alongside up to 40% of new vans. To achieve this, we are investing nearly £1.5bn‎ between April 2015 and March 2021, with grants available for plug in cars, vans, lorries, buses, taxis and motorcycles, and schemes to support charge point infrastructure at homes and workplaces and on residential streets.

Along with the additional measures in our Industrial Strategy Automotive Sector Deal published in January, this adds up to one of the most comprehensive support packages in the world for the transition to zero emission vehicles.

Through our ambitious Industrial Strategy, we are working with industry to create the right conditions for manufacturing businesses to continue investing in the UK. That means using our record investments in infrastructure to unlock growth in every part of the country; using the major new investment in research. This includes a commitment to increase total R&D investment to 2.4% of GDP by 2027 to support innovative manufacturing businesses across the country; and encouraging inward investment.

We are:

• • Investing £1bn through the ambitious new Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, bringing together world class UK research with business investment to develop the technologies and industries of the future;
• • Reforming our technical education system to achieve a world-class status;
• • Developing a National Retraining Scheme to support adults to upskill and reskill throughout their career as the economy changes;
• • Creating the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, a domestic programme of investment to boost productivity and reduce economic inequality across the country following our departure from the European Union;
• • Working with industry to exploit opportunities highlighted in the Made Smarter Review, which identifies significant benefits to the UK from integrating digital technology into manufacturing through a strong government and industry partnership.

Steel made via the electric arc furnace process does not require coal, as it melts steel scrap directly in the furnace.

Full replacement of fossil fuels in cement manufacture is technically possible but there are barriers and significant investment would be needed. In 2016 the UK cement industry replaced 39% of its fuel demand with waste derived alternatives. The industry is working with Government to increase this further, through the joint Action Plan for the Industrial Decarbonisation and Energy Efficiency Roadmaps Programme published in October 2017.

Through our Industrial Strategy we are committed to making the UK the best place in Europe to own and grow a manufacturing business. That means using our record investments in infrastructure to unlock growth in every part of the country; using the major new investment in research. This includes a commitment to increase total R&D investment to 2.4% of GDP by 2027 to support innovative manufacturing businesses across the country; and encouraging inward investment. We will create the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, a domestic programme of investment, to boost productivity and reduce economic inequality across the country following our departure from the European Union.

The Clean Growth Strategy sets out our policies and proposals for decarbonising the UK economy through the 2020s, building on the UK’s significant progress to date. The Clean Growth Grand Challenge and missions aim to amplify and extend these plans across the whole economy to maximise the advantage for UK industry from the global shift to clean growth and ensure we have safe, secure and low carbon energy supplies.

As we leave the EU we want to support farmers to grow more, sell more and export more great British food. We are looking carefully at which policies will support and grow our world leading food and farming industry in a sustainable way that provides added benefits for the environment.

The Rural Development Programme for England includes schemes that provide grants, animal health programmes, and other forms of support to improve the productivity and competitiveness of England’s agriculture sectors, including the poultry sector. The Countryside Productivity Scheme includes the offer of grants towards the costs of innovative technology.

Technological innovation is a key part of this Government’s Industrial Strategy. The £90 million Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, ‘Transforming Food Production’, will put the UK at the forefront of advanced sustainable agriculture and food production whilst reducing emissions, pollution, waste and soil erosion. Our recent consultations on future agriculture policy also highlighted policy proposals to support research and innovation and knowledge transfer to farms.

As we leave the EU we want to support farmers to grow more, sell more and export more great British food. We are looking carefully at which policies will support and grow our world leading food and farming industry in a sustainable way that provides added benefits for the environment.

The Rural Development Programme for England includes schemes that provide grants, animal health programmes, and other forms of support to improve the productivity and competitiveness of England’s agriculture sectors, including the poultry sector. The Countryside Productivity Scheme includes the offer of grants towards the costs of innovative technology.

Technological innovation is a key part of this Government’s Industrial Strategy. The £90 million Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, ‘Transforming Food Production’, will put the UK at the forefront of advanced sustainable agriculture and food production whilst reducing emissions, pollution, waste and soil erosion. Our recent consultations on future agriculture policy also highlighted policy proposals to support research and innovation and knowledge transfer to farms.

As we leave the EU we want to support farmers to grow more, sell more and export more great British food. We are looking carefully at which policies will support and grow our world leading food and farming industry in a sustainable way that provides added benefits for the environment.

The Rural Development Programme for England includes schemes that provide grants, animal health programmes, and other forms of support to improve the productivity and competitiveness of England’s agriculture sectors, including the poultry sector. The Countryside Productivity Scheme includes the offer of grants towards the costs of innovative technology.

Technological innovation is a key part of this Government’s Industrial Strategy. The £90 million Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, ‘Transforming Food Production’, will put the UK at the forefront of advanced sustainable agriculture and food production whilst reducing emissions, pollution, waste and soil erosion. Our recent consultations on future agriculture policy also highlighted policy proposals to support research and innovation and knowledge transfer to farms.

The most important drivers of change in the cost of food are commodity prices, exchange rates and oil prices. These forces affect all countries whether or not they are members of the EU. After the UK has left the EU, food originating in the UK will no longer be able to indicate EU origin. However, most foods are either sold under mandatory country of origin labelling requirements on fresh meats or voluntary country of origin schemes. Existing provisions for mandatory country of origin labelling will be brought across to UK legislation through the EU Withdrawal Act. We therefore do not envisage any significant impacts on either food availability or prices.

The UK’s current production to supply ratio is 76% for indigenous-type foods and 60% for all foods. This has remained steady over the last decade and is not low in the context of the last 150 years. Self-sufficiency is not in itself an indicator of food security. The UK sources food from a diverse range of countries, in addition to a strong domestic production base. This will not change after leaving the EU.

The Government wants to see an efficient, productive and competitive domestic farming industry able to grow more, sell more and export more of our fantastic British food.

The UK’s current production to supply ratio is 76% for indigenous-type foods and 60% for all foods. This is not low in the context of the past 150 years. The UK has historically been a net-importer of food sourced from a diverse range of stable countries and this will continue once we leave the EU. Looking ahead, we now have the opportunity to design an agricultural policy which increases productivity through innovation, technology and skills.