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<p>Defra continues to speak regularly with the agriculture sector and other Government
departments to understand labour supply and demand, including both seasonal and permanent
workforce requirements.</p><p> </p><p>To reduce the risk of seasonal labour shortages
in horticulture and the poultry sector, the Government announced last May that there
would be 45,000 Seasonal Worker visas for the horticulture sector in 2024, with a
further 2,000 for seasonal poultry workers in the autumn, ensuring these sectors can
plan their workforce needs for the year ahead with confidence. This provides sufficient
visas for growers to access all the workers they need, and if more visas are necessary
within the year an additional 10,000 could be released.</p><p> </p><p>The Skilled
Worker route remains open to all nationals who wish to come to the UK for a skilled
job they have been offered. We have broadened the skill and salary thresholds to include
medium skilled jobs and the route now covers 60% of jobs in the economy. This strikes
an appropriate balance between allowing employers access to the skills our economy
needs and encouraging investment in the resident workforce. In addition, the agricultural
sector can continue to draw on EU nationals living in the UK with settled or pre-settled
status, and EU nationals who have settled status can continue to travel to the UK
to work in the agriculture sector.</p><p> </p><p>To help inform future decisions on
labour, Defra commissioned John Shropshire to carry out an Independent Review into
Labour Shortages in the Food Supply Chain, considering how automation, domestic labour
and migrant labour could contribute to tackling labour shortages in our sectors. This
report was published on 30 June 2023 and the Government response is expected to be
published shortly.</p><p> </p><p>At the same time as the response, the Government
will set out how it will support the sector to access the labour it needs alongside
actions to reduce the sector’s reliance on migrant labour including via our work on
automation and promoting domestic labour procurement and training.</p>
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