A nationwide pilot to bring migrant workers to UK farms has been announced by the Home Secretary and Environment Secretary today (Thursday 6 September).

The pilot will mean fruit and vegetable farmers are able to employ migrant workers for seasonal work for up to six months. 2,500 workers from outside the EU will be able to come to the UK each year, alleviating labour shortages during peak production periods.

Soft fruit production in the UK has grown dramatically, by 130% in the last 20 years. To ensure that this growth continues and the UK is at the forefront of the next agriculture revolution, farmers must also look at ways that technology can reduce demands for labour.

However, automated harvesting solutions are not universally available and so in the short term, this pilot will support farmers during peak production periods.

This pilot will also explore how to keep British horticulture competitive, as almost all other OECD countries source seasonal workers to pick fruit and vegetables.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid said:

British farmers are vital to the UK’s economy – and the Government will look to support them in any way we can.

This pilot will ensure farmers have access to the seasonal labour they need to remain productive and profitable during busy times of the year.

I am committed to having an immigration system that reduces migration to sustainable levels, supports all industry and ensures we welcome those who benefit Britain.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove said:

We have listened to the powerful arguments from farmers about the need for seasonal labour to keep the horticulture industry productive and profitable.

From lettuce in East Anglia to strawberries in Scotland, we want to make sure that farmers can continue to grow, sell and export more great British food.

This two year pilot will ease the workforce pressures faced by farmers during busy times of the year. We will review the pilot’s results as we look at how best to support the longer-term needs of industry outside the EU.

The Environment Agency consults the public on certain applications for Radioactive Substances Activity. The arrangements are explained in its Public Participation Statement

These notices explain:

• what the application is about
• which Environment Agency office you can visit to see the application documents on the public register
• when you need to comment by

The Environment Agency will decide:

• whether to grant or refuse the application
• what conditions to include in the permit (if granted)

This release contains estimates of sales of improved nursery stock by forest nurseries in Great Britain, reporting on sales to Scotland and on all sales of Sitka spruce and Scots pine.

BEIS is to invest up to £44 million in the Advanced Modular Reactor (AMR) Feasibility and Development (F&D) project. In this context Advanced Modular Reactor (AMRs) are defined as a broad group of advanced nuclear reactors. AMRs differ from conventional reactors, which use pressurised or boiling water for primary cooling. They aim to maximise the amount of off-site factory fabrication and can target:

• generating low cost electricity
• increased flexibility in delivering electricity to the grid
• increased functionality, such as the provision of heat output for domestic or industrial purposes, or facilitating the production of hydrogen
• alternative applications that may generate additional revenue or economic growth

This project has 2 phases:

• phase 1: funding (up to £4 million, excluding VAT) to undertake a series of feasibility studies for AMR designs. Contracts are worth up to £300,000 (excluding VAT)
• phase 2: subject to phase 1 demonstrating clear value for money and government approval, a share of up to £40 million (excluding VAT) could be available for selected projects from phase 1 to undertake development activities. Up to a further £5 million may also be made available to regulators to support this

The following 8 organisations have been awarded contracts to produce feasibility studies as part of phase 1 of the AMR F&D project:

• Advanced Reactor Concepts LLC
• DBD Limited
• Blykalla Reaktorer Stockholm AB (LeadCold)
• Moltex Energy Limited
• Tokamak Energy Ltd
• U-Battery Developments Ltd
• Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation
• Westinghouse Electric Company UK

As part of their application, each organisation supplied an abstract summarising their proposal. The claims and opinions expressed in the abstracts are those of the applicant organisation and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of BEIS.

The revised flood and coastal erosion risk management (FCERM) strategy requires a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) under the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations.

The scoping stage of SEA decides the issues we should address and the approach. We will present the outcome in the environmental report. This will be published together with the consultation on the draft FCERM Strategy 2050.

We will consult with interested parties, in particular the statutory SEA consultation bodies.

You can respond to this consultation by email to FCERMstrategy@environment-agency.gov.uk. Alternatively write to our National Customer Contact Centre. Please mark for the attention of the SEA team.

For information about the FCERM Strategy 2050 see the FCERM consultation hub.