BRITAIN’S FOOD supply chain may not be able to secure sufficient labour for summer 2021 under the Government’s new immigration policy.

The cross-party EFRA Committee of Westminster MPs has this week accused the UK Government of taking a 'last-minute approach' to finalising the details of its Seasonal Worker Pilot scheme for overseas seasonal workers, such that the system may not be up and running in time to do any good.

The EFRA committee was particularly annoyed that the Government only just announced the final two of four operators for the pilot scheme on May 5, despite harvest season already approaching in some agricultural sectors and regions.

In its statement, the committee also expressed concerned about recent evidence of shortages of Official Veterinarians working in abattoirs, noting that over 9 in 10 of these key workers were European Economic Area-qualified.

Committee chair Neil Parish MP said: "It is now May, with peak harvesting season almost upon us, and yet the Government has only just appointed the final two operators for the Seasonal Workers Pilot. British Growers have been placed at the bottom of the Home Office's priorities list, and the unnecessary uncertainty could prove costly for producers.

"Despite last year’s ‘Pick for Britain’ pilot scheme, our report made it clear that overseas labour is still very much needed, and the Government’s efforts to recruit more domestic labour cannot hope to be sufficient for this summer’s harvest. As the reports of daffodils going unpicked this spring made clear, the need also goes well beyond just edible horticulture," said Mr Parish.

"Before Christmas, we warned the Government of the huge consequences of keeping plans for seasonal labour vague until the very last minute. There can be no excuse for further hold-ups – the Home Office need to start listening to the agricultural sector now to minimise the impact on British farmers.”

Commenting on the situation, NFU Scotland policy manager David Michie said: “We welcome many of the statements in the committee report. These are concerns that we have raised in correspondence with Government in recent months.

“Our members have been on the sharp end of the delays in the Seasonal Workers Pilot scheme, which have caused unnecessary anxiety about getting fruit picked and paid for, rather than it being left to rot in the field.

“The announcement of the full list of operators for the Seasonal Workers Pilot scheme just weeks before the season starts to peak was unacceptable," said Mr Michie. "But beyond this delay, there is plenty of scope for further improvement in the scheme.

“We want lessons to be learned from this report and from the growers themselves. These lessons will help develop the next phase of the Seasonal Workers scheme as it moves forward from the pilot phase into something that works really well for our members and for the workers .

“One of our biggest concerns is very high visa cost of this scheme relative to the previous SAWS scheme," he added. "This cost is high for both the worker and the grower, affecting the morale of the people picking the fruit and the bottom line of the businesses growing it. NFUS wants this red tape and high cost to be looked at as the Home Office learns lessons from this pilot scheme.”