Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs written question – answered at on 7 November 2025.
Chris Law
Shadow SNP Spokesperson (International Development), Shadow SNP Spokesperson (Business), Shadow SNP Spokesperson (Trade)
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing an employer pays principle to help tackle (a) debt bondage and (b) labour exploitation of workers on the Seasonal Worker visa.
Angela Eagle
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Together with the Seasonal Worker Scheme Taskforce, Defra jointly funded an independent investigation into the feasibility of applying the ‘employer pays principle’ to the horticulture sector, to understand how financial risks faced by workers can be mitigated.
The Government has considered the findings of the report but has no plans to mandate implementation of the employer pays principle in the horticulture sector. Welfare protections are already in place through the licensing and inspection processes provided by the Home Office and its agencies: the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority and UK Visas and Immigration.
Yes2 people think so
No1 person thinks not
Would you like to ask a question like this yourself? Use our Freedom of Information site.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
