Farming groups back committee report on labour

Farming organisations yesterday praised the Westminster select committee report into the labour shortages currently crippling many farming and food processing businesses which called for the UK Government to have a ‘radical rethink’ on its current policy on migrant labour.

And growers across the country said the damning report published by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee on the issue backed up calls which the industry had been making for months for the UK Government to introduce some flexibility into the rules on foreign workers to fill the estimated half a million vacancies on UK farms and food businesses.

NFU Scotland president Martin Kennedy said that the findings tallied with what the union had long been calling for:

“The UK government must do more to address the acute labour shortages that exist throughout Scotland’s food and farming sector as a result of Brexit, the covid-19 pandemic, and now exacerbated by the crisis in Ukraine”.

Stating that the current shortages threatened food security, animal welfare and affected the mental health of those working in the sector, he said:

“NFU Scotland wants to see an improved and expanded Seasonal Workers Scheme, a step change from the government in how it engages with the industry, a review of aspects of the Skilled Worker Visa Scheme that act as barriers to immigration, and the development of a long-term strategy that combines migration, innovation, and skills development in rural areas”.

He change was vital to ensure stability in domestic food production, enabling Scotland’s farmers and crofters to continue to provide the quality, sustainable produce expected by consumers.

South of the Border the English NFY president, Minette Batters said the report backed up her union’s long-standing call for a more enabling immigration policy which mitigated against the crippling labour shortages and structural issues which she said had existed throughout the food supply chain for many months:

“The NFU, alongside the whole food supply chain, continues to seek a review of the current immigration system, including the Shortage Occupation List and Seasonal Worker Scheme as recommended by the Migrant Advisory Committee (MAC) 20 months ago.

She also called for the additional 10,000 visas already available under the Seasonal Workers Scheme to be released minimise shortages at peak harvest time.

With the pig sector amongst the worst hit, the National Pig Association (NPA) called on the Government to learn from the recent crisis and work with the industry to address the issues which had crippled the pig sector over the past year.

NPA chief executive Zoe Davies said:

“The report is clear that labour shortages, brought about in part by changes to Government policy, have had a huge impact on the pig sector, which is still fighting for its survival.

Calling on the Government to take the issue seriously she added:

“Ministers need to stop arguing that labour shortages are not a problem, stop deflecting blame onto the industry, and as the report suggests, sit down with us to understand the problems and look at how we can work together to find solutions.