Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Windsor Framework: Horticulture

Thursday 1 February 2024 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 3 Not answered 0

Key points

  • DEFRA officials met with Kings Seeds on January 19, 2024.
  • The Government is inviting Kings Seeds to a new horticulture working group to address concerns.
  • The Minister is willing to work with DUP Members to resolve horticultural issues.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Priti Patel Con Witham
Brexit Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Context

Kings Seeds, a well-established local business based in Kelvedon since 1888, trades in horticultural seeds and faces barriers preventing it from sending products to Northern Ireland due to issues related to the Windsor framework.

Question

Whether he has had recent discussions with horticultural businesses on the operation of the Windsor framework. The Minister will know that Kings Seeds cannot send its products to Northern Ireland because of barriers related to the Windsor framework. Will he clarify whether announcements made earlier this week, which we will discuss later today, will resolve the issue? If not, will he work with me and teams across Government to ensure that we deal with the issue?

Answer from Mark Spencer

DEFRA officials met Kings Seeds on 19 January. I am more than happy to meet my right hon. Friend and the company to discuss its concerns and see how we can support it in all its excellent work in her constituency. We appreciate the concerns of Kings Seeds. We are inviting it to the new horticulture working group announced in yesterday's Command Paper, along with industry representatives. The Government will ask the group to address the movement of seeds to consumers in Northern Ireland as a priority.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific resolution for Kings Seeds was not provided; instead, an invitation to a working group and general support were offered.

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Q2 Priti Patel Con Witham
Northern Ireland Brexit
Context

Kings Seeds, a well-established local business based in Kelvedon since 1888, trades in horticultural seeds and faces barriers preventing it from sending products to Northern Ireland due to issues related to the Windsor framework.

Question

The Minister will know that Kings Seeds cannot send its products to Northern Ireland because of barriers related to the Windsor framework. Will he clarify whether announcements made earlier this week, which we will discuss later today, will resolve the issue? If not, will he work with me and teams across Government to ensure that we deal with the issue?

Answer from Mark Spencer

We appreciate the concerns of Kings Seeds. We are inviting it to the new horticulture working group announced in yesterday's Command Paper, along with industry representatives. The Government will ask the group to address the movement of seeds to consumers in Northern Ireland as a priority.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific resolution for Kings Seeds was not provided; instead, an invitation to a working group and general support were offered.

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Q3 Gregory Campbell DUP East Londonderry
Northern Ireland
Context

There is significant progress towards the restoration of devolution, but there are concerns about efficiency in addressing ongoing issues like those faced by the horticultural sector.

Question

Now that we have significant progress towards the restoration of devolution, will the Minister agree to work with DUP Members and his ministerial colleagues to ensure that issues such as the horticultural one continue to be resolved, so that we have maximum efficiency across the North channel?

Answer from Mark Spencer

I am delighted to work with the hon. Gentleman. We have a track record of working with our DUP friends to solve the challenges that we face. That conversation can continue, and I look forward to working with him to continue to solve those challenges.

Partly answered

Not addressed: No specific commitment or timeline was provided for addressing ongoing issues such as those in the horticultural sector; instead, a general willingness to work together was expressed.

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