The NFU has outlined its policy requests on the issue of seasonal labour following its largest ever membership consultation on post-Brexit farming.
The body’s main 'ask' is for the government to trial a ‘substantial’ fixed-term work permit scheme for seasonal workers in 2017, as announced at the National Fruit Show on 19 October.
The announcement of the scheme, which would also target non-EU workers, followed an NFU Council debate on the issues raised by members.
Other requests from the NFU include:
- The assurance that EU workers already in positions have the right to residency in the UK or the right to return to their home member state
- A commitment from government to hold further discussions on permanent and seasonal labour provision for the medium- to long-term
- Significant investment from the AHDB and government in innovation, productive technology, robotics, automation and mechanisation, as well as scientific research and development
- Long-term collaboration with the education system to provide the relevant technical skills needed for the industry
The NFU Horticulture and Potatoes Board chairman Ali Capper said: “For the horticulture and potatoes team, access to labour continues to be – and has long been – an issue of paramount importance, even pre-Brexit. But it is becoming increasingly clear that this is not just some abstract issue that may or may not hit the industry in a few years’ time. This is a problem being experienced now.
“The latest NFU Labour Providers’ Survey is providing strong evidence that the industry is currently experiencing real and increasingly acute problems in recruiting seasonal labour to the point where 47 per cent of labour providers now consider the supply of labour to be inadequate to meet demand. This is a problem that needs immediate action.”
The NFU is raising the issue of seasonal labour across various political and public platforms, and has meetings scheduled with the government to outline its concerns.
Capper and her NFU colleagues are meeting representatives of the Home Office on 1 November to discuss labour availability concerns and push for what she described as “swift and decisive action… on access to the labour we require to survive.”
She is also urging growers to lobby their MPs and explain why access to seasonal labour is vital to their businesses.
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