Agriculture: Seasonal Workers

Home Office written question – answered on 29th November 2022.

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Photo of Stuart McDonald Stuart McDonald Shadow SNP Spokesperson (Home Affairs)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that workers who travel to the UK on the agricultural Seasonal Worker visa are offered work for the duration of their visa; and what estimate she has made of the number of those workers who left the UK after (a) three, (b) four and (c) five months in (i) 2020, (ii) 2021 and (iii) the first half of 2022.

Photo of Stuart McDonald Stuart McDonald Shadow SNP Spokesperson (Home Affairs)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she is taking steps to put checks are in place to ensure that workers who entered the UK on the agricultural Seasonal Worker visa are placed in work before further workers are brought to the UK; and what steps her Department is taking to (a) monitor the numbers of and (b) offer support to workers on the visa who are unable to find work.

Photo of Robert Jenrick Robert Jenrick The Minister for Immigration

The Seasonal Worker is an ‘operator led’ immigration route, with four scheme operators selected to manage the placement of workers on UK farms and to ensure their welfare in the UK.

The Seasonal Worker scheme operators are responsible for managing all aspects of the recruitment and placement of workers on UK farms, and ensure workers have sufficient work as part of their sponsorship duties. The Home Office closely monitors the scheme operators to ensure they are complying with their sponsor duties. Non-compliance with the guidance could result in the revocation of their sponsor license.

The Home Office monitors the number of workers who enter the UK through this route and the number of workers that return to ensure that the route is operating effectively. We do not however routinely publish information about lengths of stay.

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