Food and farming sectors need clarity on overseas workers

With a 17 per cent reduction in the available workforce this year, there could be a significant shortage of people to work in Britain’s food and farming sectors if the government fails to address growing concerns over access to workers.

Claiming that an immigration policy should be created to offer British farms flexible solutions for recruiting both seasonal and permanent over- seas workers, the English NFU said it was crucial the issue was addressed now to secure a reliable workforce pre- and post-brexit.

NFU president Meurig Raymond said: “A solution, such as a suite of visa or permit schemes, is urgently needed to avoid losing a critical number of workers that could jeopardise future harvests and food production.”

He said that recruiting overseas workers was not something which could be done instantly – and businesses had to plan at least nine months in advance:

“The supply of seasonal workers for the 2018 and 2019 seasons is already in danger and government must, as a priority, establish a system to enable sufficient recruitment of seasonal labour before the UK leaves the EU.”

A report drawn up by the organisation showed there were also serious concerns about the industry’s ability to maintain an adequate number of permanent workers.