Since 2022 an additional quota of 10,000 has been available as a contingency in response to industry...View MoreSince 2022 an additional quota of 10,000 has been available as a contingency in response to industry concerns about the adequacy of the overall cap and potential demand for Seasonal Workers, although this will cease in 2025. Any release of additional numbers would be made on condition that the 45,000 cap had been reached and in response to economic evidence of further recruitment need. Whilst there are certainly challenges in increasing automation in agriculture, globally progress has been made. Israel and the Netherlands both provide potential case studies where there have been significant advancements in automating agricultural processes through investment in technology. This has led to prototypes becoming developed, with the potential to replace labour for much of the growing process.<br/><h2 id="toc-0">Who comes to the UK on the Seasonal Worker Visa?</h2><br/>These were identified by looking at the occupations without privileged immigration access and with the same minimum educational requirements as seasonal worker occupations, which had the most vacancies in 2023 across all Local Authority Areas (LAA) with 3 or more farms that have used the SWV. This analysis is not to say the following roles are comparable with seasonal work, rather they are competing with farms for labour. Table 1.7 shows, that whilst pay for ‘farm workers’ and‘horticultural trades’ is low when compared to the whole economy, it is relatively consistent with pay rates for competing occupations. This suggests pay would not be a deciding factor for individuals to pursue these occupations (as others are available at similar rates). Further, the reliance on migrant labour suggests that pay is not sufficiently high to attract British workers to these roles.<br/><ul><li>Employers we spoke to generally understood the need for the provision as a protection against bonded labour.</li><li>To get a quote, upload a clear copy of your document through our website or send it to us by email.</li><li>These workers said that the accommodation was adequate for temporary work, although cold and expensive to heat in winter.</li><li>The House of Lords report into the horticultural sector argues that this is a result of loss-leader pricing strategies in supermarkets which leads to poor grower returns within the horticultural sector.</li><li>Some of these did note (see Chapter 3), that while automation was augmenting labour, the technology is largely assistive and not substitutive, and so they expect to need Seasonal Workers for the foreseeable future. <a href="https://www.liveinternet.ru/users/kok_calhoun/post508450206">https://www.liveinternet.ru/users/kok_calhoun/post508450206</a>; </li></ul><br/><h3 id="toc-1">Give consideration to the Employer Pays Principle</h3><br/><img class='aligncenter' style='display: block;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;' src="https://5.imimg.com/data5/SM/TG/RM/SELLER-8338671/english-to-russian-translation-services-500x500.jpg"; width="608px" alt="english to russian translation of financial documents uk"/><br/>Confirming visa allocations in December was said to have made it extremely difficult for employers to plan their workforce for the following season, particularly for organisations with early seasons between January and March. Sudden changes to the rules were also said to be hard to plan around, including the unexpected cost of increased wages and need to match recruitment to available work as a result of the introduction of 32 hours per week mandatory pay. Representative organisations said that rule changes impacting the following season should ideally be made by June the previous year and we support the notion that government where possible should seek to make announcements on the scheme to this deadline. As shown in Chapter 1, the main alternative source of seasonal labour among both users and non-users is EU workers with settled and pre-settled status, including some regular returnees. Defra data shown in Table 1.3 (Chapter 1) supports that there is a decline in the proportion of EU workers in the agriculture, food, and fishing sector. Employers were concerned about how long this would be a possible alternative source of labour as more settled and pre-settled EU workers find permanent work and age out of physical labour.<br/><br/>Some of the initial SAWS labour providers became scheme operators, despite there being a gap of several years betweenthe 2 schemes, and additional scheme operators have been added. Organisations wishing to become scheme operators first have to pass Defra’s Request for Information (RFI) process, which identifies potential operators through recruitment rounds and requires that they comply with the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) regulations. Once approved, they can begin applying for a licence and are referred to Home Office UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) to consider for licencing as an operator. 2 scheme operators also offer a payroll and HR package for SWS workers on behalf of each other to meet the requirement that organisations cannot recruit Seasonal Workers on their own behalf. <a href="https://blogfreely.net/arrowscale0/title-russian-translation-of-drawings-in-the-uk-for-precise-communication">https://blogfreely.net/arrowscale0/title-russian-translation-of-drawings-in-the-uk-for-precise-communication</a>; Several of the employers and representative organisations responding to our CfE or participating in the research stated that late announcements on the route (as discussed in Chapter 2) had previously had a negative impact on their experience of the scheme.<br/>For seasonal workers in the UK not on the route (largely EU Settlement Scheme, Ukrainian and some British workers) we are not aware of any wage data that exists. Visa flexibility - We accept the previous government’s intention to maintain the current duration of the horticulture visa at 6 months and poultry at the current approximate of 13 weeks. The durations reflect the intent of the SWS to address seasonal peak production periods and avoids the administrative complexity of bringing the Immigration Health Surcharge into scope for visas greater than 6 months in length. Additionally, there is evidence to suggest that many workers do not utilise the full duration of their visa and when in the UK are living in conditions which, even when compliant with required standards, can be challenging for extended periods. DLME has suggested that, in the absence of a single enforcement body (a previous Conservative manifesto commitment that was dropped in 2022), DLME could take a coordinating role between various government departments and the industry.<br/>Even where there is not a large horticulture business in the area, there does tend to be a clustering of smaller horticulture businesses, meaning again a significant impact at the local level of a reduction in the size of this sector. Examples of clustering of smaller businesses are in Herefordshire, East Anglia, Kent, the West Midlands and the east coast of Scotland. Prospective Seasonal Worker sponsors must be both endorsed by Defra and licensed by the GLAA before they can apply for a sponsor licence.<br/>Clarifying the roles of the agencies involved (as recommended in the ICIBI report and accepted by the Home Office) would also be useful in ensuring that all aspects of enforcement are covered. We support the GLAA having the legal power to independently go onto farms that are using Seasonal Workers, and to be given adequate resourcing to do so. The BRC comment on behalf of their retailers that they “…are committed to upholding high standards of welfare for all people who work in their supply chains, and prohibit the use of illicit recruitment fees paid by workers”. As the EU definition of forced labour encompasses coercion through debt, it is also possible that some form of EPP will be instituted there to protect against debt bondage.
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