Question follow-through · 114615
Livestock Industry: Seasonal Workers
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Department is taking to help ensure that UK sheep farmers have sufficient access to skilled seasonal shearers for the 2026 shearing season.
About this written question
A written question asks a government minister for information in writing. Parliament publishes the question and any answer.
- Answering body
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- Tabled
- 20 Feb 2026
- Target answer date
- 24 Feb 2026
- Answer
- 3 Mar 2026 · 11 calendar days after tabling
Elapsed calendar days describe the record timeline, not whether Parliament considers an answer on time.
More questions by this MP on Environment and energy
- Low Alcohol Drinks · 9 Jun 2026
- Chlorine: Health Hazards · 30 Jun 2026
- Chlorine: Health Hazards · 30 Jun 2026
- Water Supply: Health Hazards · 30 Jun 2026
- Chlorine: Health Hazards · 30 Jun 2026
Shared topic keywords suggest a connection; they do not establish a follow-up.
Votes on this topic
- Taxation (Energy and Vehicles) Bill Committee: New Clause 5 · 1 Jul 2026
- Taxation (Energy and Vehicles) Bill Committee: New Clause 4 · 1 Jul 2026
- Taxation (Energy and Vehicles) Bill Committee: New Clause 2 · 1 Jul 2026
These Commons divisions share a topic label. The question did not necessarily lead to a vote.
Recorded timeline
20 Feb 2026
Question tabled
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Department is taking to help ensure that UK sheep farmers have sufficient access to skilled seasonal shearers for the 2026 shearing season.
24 Feb 2026
Target answer date
Date supplied by the official written-questions record.
3 Mar 2026
Answer published
With a national flock of around 30m sheep, Defra recognises the importance that shearing sheep plays in managing the health and welfare of the UK flock. We acknowledge that industry faces continued challenges each year in sourcing sufficient numbers of tr...
Official data retrieved 28 Sept 2026.
Later records
Possible follow-up questions
Strong links require the same MP, department and exact heading. Other same-department questions are shown as unreviewed candidates, not as confirmed follow-ups. No debate link is asserted unless a stable source relationship exists.
Low Alcohol Drinks
9 Jun 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what role her Department has had in the Department of Health and Social Care’s plans to consult on uprating the descriptor guidance for low and no alcohol products.
Chlorine: Health Hazards
30 Jun 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what research his Department has commissioned or reviewed since 2000 into potential health effects associated with long-term domestic exposure to chlorinated mains water through bathin
Chlorine: Health Hazards
30 Jun 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for its policies of absorption of chlorine or chlorine by-products through the skin or by inhalation during bathin
Water Supply: Health Hazards
30 Jun 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether any epidemiological studies commissioned or conducted by her Department have examined health outcomes associated with changes in household water-supply configuration from indir
Chlorine: Health Hazards
30 Jun 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance is issued to water companies on monitoring chlorine residuals at consumers' taps following alterations to domestic plumbing arrangements.
Chlorine: Health Hazards
30 Jun 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether water companies are required to retain records of chlorine residual measurements taken at individual domestic properties.
Inland Waterways and Rivers: Sewage
2 Jul 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with Thames Water on the prevention of sewage overflows into rivers and waterways.
Pigs: Animal Housing
9 Jul 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she can confirm that the forthcoming consultation on phasing out farrowing crates will be based on a transition to free farrowing systems rather than permitting the continued u
Pigs: Animal Housing
9 Jul 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she intends to publish the consultation on phasing out the use of farrowing crates for sows.
Water Supply: Housing
28 Aug 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the application of the precautionary principle to potential public health risks arising from domestic water supply arrangements.
Water Supply: Housing
28 Aug 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason the precautionary principle was not applied in relation to potential inhalation and dermal exposure arising from domestic water supply arrangements.
Water Supply: Housing
28 Aug 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has commissioned an assessment by a public body of potential inhalation and dermal exposure arising from domestic water supply arrangements.