Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Agricultural Sector: Labour Supply

Thursday 17 June 2021 · 2 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 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Minister of DEFRA is working closely with industry and wider Government to ensure UK growers get necessary labour.
  • This year, the seasonal workers pilot has been expanded from 10,000 to 30,000 visas.
  • The Secretary of State met with representatives of the ornamentals sector to discuss worker shortages.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Alex Cunningham Lab
Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Context

The MP asked about recent discussions on labour adequacy in agriculture.

Question

What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the adequacy of labour supply for the agricultural sector?

Answer from Victoria Prentis

DEFRA is working closely with industry and wider Government to ensure that UK growers get the labour they need. This year, the seasonal workers pilot has been expanded from 10,000 to 30,000 visas. Many workers are among those who now have settled or pre-settled status.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific ask was not directly answered with commitments or timelines for addressing the labour issue specifically in agriculture.

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Q2 Alex Cunningham Lab
Brexit Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Context

The MP referenced chaos in hiring from the EU, highlighting a shortage of drivers and the need for immediate action. He also mentioned concerns raised by the National Farmers Union about plants and flowers left rotting due to labour shortages.

Question

The Minister will be aware that the Government's approach to labour from the EU is causing chaos across all manner of job roles, including in agriculture. Just this week, haulier Martyn Levitt from Stockton told me that there is a huge shortage of drivers as companies can no longer easily hire from the EU, and goods are not being delivered. That needs to be sorted. Today, the National Farmers Union and I would like to know whether the Minister will extend the seasonal workers pilot scheme to ornamentals to ensure that plants and flowers in fields and nurseries get picked and are not left rotting, bringing joy to no one and bankrupting businesses.

Answer from Victoria Prentis

The Secretary of State is working actively on this issue and had a meeting with several representatives of the ornamentals sector only yesterday to discuss it. We are working hard across Government to address these worker shortages. I am working with the Department for Work and Pensions to promote picking and to support the horticultural sector, as well as to recruit more UK workers. Automation will be at least some of the solution to this issue, and we are actively promoting new technologies.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific ask was not directly answered with a commitment to extend the seasonal workers pilot scheme to ornamentals. Instead, general efforts were mentioned without concrete details on extending the programme.

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