Labour shortages in the food and farming sector

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 15 Sep 2021 Closed: 20 Jul 2022 Parliament page
There have been reports of labour shortages affecting some businesses throughout the food and farming sector, for example: farms have been unable to hire all the seasonal workers they need to harvest food (and pick other crops such as flowers); businesses in the food and drink processing sector – the … Read more
10 Recommendations
5 Conclusions
1 Report
4 Oral sessions
3 Letters
4 Events
Activity timeline 13 events
23 Jun
2022
Report published
23 Jun
2022
Correspondence
6 Apr
2022
Report published
23 Feb
2022
Correspondence
14 Dec
2021
Oral evidence
14 Dec
2021
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Wilson Room, Portcullis House
16 Nov
2021
Oral evidence
16 Nov
2021
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 6, Palace of Westminster
9 Nov
2021
Oral evidence
9 Nov
2021
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 15, Palace of Westminster
26 Oct
2021
Oral evidence
26 Oct
2021
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 8, Palace of Westminster
Oral evidence sessions 4 sessions
14 Dec 2021
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Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Kevin Foster MP · Home Office Philippa Rouse · SRO Future Border & Immigration System Programme, Migration & Borders Group
16 Nov 2021
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Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
David Kennedy · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs George Eustice · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
9 Nov 2021
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Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Andrew Opie · British Retail Consortium (BRC) Dr Ben Broadbent · Bank of England Kate Nicholls · UKHospitality Madeleine Sumption · Migration Observatory Mr Tom Southall · Cold Chain Federation Professor Jo Swaffield · University of York
26 Oct 2021
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Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Charlie Dewhirst · National Pig Association Derek Jarman · British Protected Ornamentals Association Graeme Dear · British Poultry Council Ian Wright · Food and Drink Federation Mr James Russell · British Veterinary Association Mr Nick Allen · British Meat Processors Association Tom Bradshaw · National Farmers' Union (NFU)
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Fourth report - Labour shortages in the food and farming sector HC 713 6 Apr 2022 15 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
2 results
Clear
12 Recommendation Accepted in Part
Fourth report - Labour shortages i…
We welcome some of the reforms that Government has made to the Seasonal Workers Pilot,...
We welcome some of the reforms that Government has made to the Seasonal Workers Pilot, including accepting our recommendation that the scheme is extended to the ornamental sector and the provisional announcement of the number of Seasonal Worker Visas for … Read more
Government Response
The government extended the Seasonal Worker route to 2024, allowing overseas workers to harvest both edible and ornamental crops and released an additional 10,000 visas. However, they do not intend to publish monthly updates on the seasonal labour market.
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13 Recommendation Accepted in Part
Fourth report - Labour shortages i…
We also call on the Government to make the Seasonal Workers Pilot a permanent scheme...
We also call on the Government to make the Seasonal Workers Pilot a permanent scheme and for it to commit to announcing the number of visas that will be available under the scheme on a rolling five-year basis. (Paragraph 69) Longer term solutions
Government Response
The government extended the Seasonal Worker route to 2024 and released an additional 10,000 visas. They will make an evidence-based decision on the future of the visa route in 2024 but do not intend to publish more frequent statistical updates on the scheme.
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Government Response AI assessment · 15 of 10 classified
Accepted 3
Accepted in Part 2
Acknowledged 4
Deferred 2
Not Addressed 4
Total 10 recs + 5 conclusions
Correspondence 3 letters
23 Jun 2022 Correspondence from the Chair to Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, dated 14 June
Parliament page
23 Feb 2022 Correspondence from Minister Prentis re: Labour shortages in the food and farming sector inquiry, Pig sector, dated 17 February
Parliament page
16 Sep 2021 Correspondence to the Home Secretary relating to the inquiry into Labour shortages in the food and farming sector, 14 September 2021
Parliament page