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1360250

registered interest
date	15/10/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Migrant Workers: Food
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of allocating more temporary visas to workers in the food and drink supply chain to ensure sufficient food supplies at Christmas 2021 and beyond.
tabling member constituency	Edinburgh North and Leith
tabling member printed	Deidre Brock
uin	57076
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/10/2021 answer text <p>Recognising the extraordinary circumstances facing businesses currently, Government is providing visas as a time-limited, temporary measure for the food sector until longer term measures to improve the supply of skills domestically start to have an impact. This includes visas for up to:</p><ul><li>Up to 4,700 HGV food drivers who will be able to arrive from late October and leave by 28 February 2022;</li><li>Up to 5,500 poultry workers can arrive from late October and stay up until 31 December 2021; and</li><li>Up to 800 pork butchers who will be able to arrive from early November until 31 December 2021 and stay for up to 6 months.</li></ul><p>It will be for the sectors and companies concerned to make use of these opportunities to recruit labour over this period.</p><p> </p><p>However, we must see long-term solutions delivered by employers through improved training and hiring, with better pay and working conditions, as immigration routes do not provide a guarantee of being able to recruit in a competitive global market for skilled workers. Therefore, we have no further plans to provide more temporary visas in this sector.</p><p> </p><p>The Points Based System already provides for a range of roles in the food and drink sector, including roles such as Butchers, to be recruited on a global basis subject to the rules and requirements of the system being met, including on salary.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 25/10/2021 16:29:21 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	4417 label Biography information for Deidre Brock

1357179

registered interest
date	21/09/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Migrant Workers: Food
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the food and drink sector's proposal for a covid recovery visa scheme.
tabling member constituency	Gravesham
tabling member printed	Adam Holloway
uin	52436
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/10/2021 answer text <p>The Points Based System already provides for a range of roles in the food and drink sector, including roles such as Butchers, subject to the rules and requirements of the system being met, including on salary.</p><p>Beyond the Points Based Systems, employers can recruit those with general work rights including the millions of people who have been granted status under the EU Settlement Scheme, those who have arrived via our settlement route for British National (Overseas) normally resident in Hong Kong and their households, those who have arrived via a family visa and those in the UK under our Youth Mobility Schemes. They have full access to the UK labour market and are free to work in the UK and can undertake any role.</p><p>But recognising the extraordinary circumstances facing businesses currently, Government is providing visas as a time-limited, temporary measure for the food sector until longer term measures to improve the supply of skills domestically. start to have an impact. This includes visas for up to:</p><p>• 4,700 HGV food drivers who will be able to arrive from late October and leave by 28 February 2022 and;</p><p>• 5,500 poultry workers will arrive from late October and stay up until 31 December 2021.</p><p>However we must see long-term solutions delivered by employers through improved testing and hiring, with better pay and working conditions, as immigration routes do not provide a guarantee of being able to recruit in a competitive global market for skilled workers.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 11/10/2021 16:11:12 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	1522 label Biography information for Adam Holloway

1356782

registered interest
date	20/09/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Migrant Workers: Food
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the shortage occupation list, what discussions she has had with stakeholders in the food and drink sector on labour shortages in the food supply chain; and what steps she is taking to resolve those shortages in the short term.
tabling member constituency	Oxford West and Abingdon
tabling member printed	Layla Moran
uin	51822
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/09/2021 answer text <p>Home Office Ministers and officials meet with a broad range of stakeholders including various sectors and other Government departments. The Government position remains we will not be introducing a short-term visa route such as the ‘Covid recovery visa’ as has been suggested.</p><p>Most of the solutions are likely to be driven by industry, with a big push towards improving pay, conditions and diversity needed, rather than turning to the Home Office for immigration policy changes as an alternative to doing this. Employers with recruitment issues should therefore engage with the Department for Work and Pensions about the support they can provide in recruiting from the UK Labour Market,</p><p>The Points Based System does provide for occupations within the agri-food sector, including butchers, a range of poultry roles and fishmongers, subject to the requirements of the system – including English language and salary – being met. An occupation does not need to be on the Shortage Occupation List (SOL) to be sponsored for a Skilled Worker visa</p><p>Beyond the Points Based System, there is the existing UK labour market, which includes those who come to the UK through our Youth Mobility Schemes (which we are looking to expand), our new British National (Overseas) visa for those from Hong Kong, dependants of those arriving under the expanded skilled worker route, as well as over 6 million applications under the EU Settlement Scheme and those who arrive through family routes, who all have access to the UK labour market.</p><p>As a transitional measure, to help farm businesses adjust to changes to the UK labour market, the Seasonal Workers Pilot was extended into this year with 30,000 visas available. Decisions on the future of the pilot will be taken in due course, following evaluation of the scheme.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster grouped question UIN 51821 question first answered 28/09/2021 12:43:52 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	4656 label Biography information for Layla Moran

1356483

registered interest
date	17/09/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Migrant Workers: Food
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the potential merits of introducing a visa scheme for food and drink workers to support covid-19 economic recovery.
tabling member constituency	Swansea East
tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
uin	50999
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/09/2021 answer text <p>Home Office Ministers and officials meet with a broad range of stakeholders including various sectors and other Government departments. The Government position remains we will not be introducing a short-term visa route such as the ‘Covid recovery visa’ as has been suggested. Most of the solutions are likely to be driven by industry, with a big push towards improving pay, conditions and diversity needed.</p><p>The Points Based System does provide for occupations within the agri-food sector, including butchers, a range of poultry roles, and fishmongers, subject to the requirements of the system – including English language and salary – being met.</p><p>Beyond the Points Based System, there is the existing UK labour market, which includes those who come to the UK through our Youth Mobility Schemes (which we are looking to expand), our new British National (Overseas) visa for those from Hong Kong, dependants of those arriving under the expanded skilled worker route, as well as over 6 million applications under the EU Settlement Scheme and those who arrive through family routes, who all have access to the UK labour market.</p><p>As a transitional measure, to help farm businesses adjust to changes to the UK labour market, the Seasonal Workers Pilot was extended into this year with 30,000 visas available. Decisions on the future of the pilot will be taken in due course, following evaluation of the scheme.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster grouped question UIN 51000 51001 question first answered 27/09/2021 10:41:58 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris

1356486

registered interest
date	17/09/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Migrant Workers: Food
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to increase access to labour to support the UK food and drink distribution sector.
tabling member constituency	Swansea East
tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
uin	51000
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/09/2021 answer text <p>Home Office Ministers and officials meet with a broad range of stakeholders including various sectors and other Government departments. The Government position remains we will not be introducing a short-term visa route such as the ‘Covid recovery visa’ as has been suggested. Most of the solutions are likely to be driven by industry, with a big push towards improving pay, conditions and diversity needed.</p><p>The Points Based System does provide for occupations within the agri-food sector, including butchers, a range of poultry roles, and fishmongers, subject to the requirements of the system – including English language and salary – being met.</p><p>Beyond the Points Based System, there is the existing UK labour market, which includes those who come to the UK through our Youth Mobility Schemes (which we are looking to expand), our new British National (Overseas) visa for those from Hong Kong, dependants of those arriving under the expanded skilled worker route, as well as over 6 million applications under the EU Settlement Scheme and those who arrive through family routes, who all have access to the UK labour market.</p><p>As a transitional measure, to help farm businesses adjust to changes to the UK labour market, the Seasonal Workers Pilot was extended into this year with 30,000 visas available. Decisions on the future of the pilot will be taken in due course, following evaluation of the scheme.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster grouped question UIN 50999 51001 question first answered 27/09/2021 10:41:58 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris

1355398

registered interest
date	14/09/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Migrant Workers: Food
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will introduce a 12-month covid-19 recovery visa for people involved in the food and drinks sector supply chains.
tabling member constituency	Wycombe
tabling member printed	Mr Steve Baker
uin	49108
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2021 answer text <p>The Government position remains we will not be introducing a short-term visa route allowing recruitment at or near the minimum wage with no work-based training requirements, such as the ‘Covid recovery visa’ which has been suggested.</p><p>Most of the solutions for labour shortages are likely to be driven by industry, with a big push towards improving pay, conditions and diversity needed. This includes business facing recruitment issues engaging with the Department for Work and Pensions about the support they can provide, rather than turning to the Home Office for immigration based solutions instead.</p><p>The UK labour market has changed rapidly in recent months and we need time to monitor the impact of the new Skilled Worker route, as well as how the economy recovers post-Covid 19<em> </em>including those individuals who will begin returning to the labour market from the furlough scheme.</p><p>The independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) found some roles in the food production, supply and agricultural sectors meet the RQF3 skills threshold for the Skilled Worker route so are eligible to be sponsored for a Skilled Worker visa and can therefore be recruited on global basis. The threshold was previously set at degree-level jobs. Modelling by the MAC suggests the new, broader RQF3 threshold strikes a reasonable balance between controlling immigration and business access to labour.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 20/09/2021 12:04:07 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	4064 label Biography information for Mr Steve Baker

1354216

registered interest
date	09/09/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Migrant Workers: Food
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the (a) potential merits of including (i) butchers, (ii) poultry technicians and (iii) other food production workers on the shortage occupation list to ensure food supplies are maintained, (b) potential merits of introducing a temporary suspension or moratorium on the restriction of freedom of movement for food production workers and (c) applicability of the points based immigration system to food production workers; and what assessment she has made of the potential merits of expanding the seasonal worker scheme to include migrant labour in food production to support the meat processing industry.
tabling member constituency	Ynys Môn
tabling member printed	Virginia Crosbie
uin	45953
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/09/2021 answer text <p>The independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) found some roles in the food production, supply and agricultural sectors, such as Butchers, meet the RQF3 skills threshold for the Skilled Worker route so are eligible to be sponsored for a Skilled Worker visa, whereas others do not. The threshold was previously set at degree-level jobs. Modelling by the MAC suggests the new, broader skills threshold of RQF3 (A-level or equivalent) strikes a reasonable balance between controlling immigration and providing business access to skills on as global basis.</p><p> </p><p>The Government believes it is important to monitor the impact of the new Skilled Worker route, as well as how the economy recovers post-Covid 19, before making any wide-scale changes. Jobs do not need to be on the Shortage Occupation List to recruited via the Skilled Worker route, but the relevant skill and salary thresholds must be met to qualify.</p><p> </p><p>The Seasonal Workers Pilot will continue to operate specifically in the edible horticulture sector, to help farmers growing UK fruit and vegetables and ensure our nation’s food security.</p><p> </p><p>We will continue to monitor the labour needs of other sectors, however, specific work visas should not be seen as the only option for additional recruitment as immigration must be considered alongside our policies for the UK Labour market, not as an alternative to them.</p><p> </p><p>Therefore business with recruitment issues should, in the first instance, engage with the Department for Work and Pensions about the support they can offer in recruiting from the existing UK labour market, which includes those who come to the UK through our Youth Mobility Schemes (which we are looking to expand), our new British National (Overseas) visa for those from Hong Kong, those who hold status under the Eu Settlement Scheme, dependants of those arriving under the expanded skilled worker route, and those who arrive through other routes, such as our family and humanitarian protection ones, who all have access to the UK labour market.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 15/09/2021 09:28:48 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster previous answer version 21403 answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	4859 label Biography information for Virginia Crosbie

1340233

registered interest
date	25/06/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Migrant Workers: Food
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of including key food workers on the shortage occupation list to help tackle labour shortages in the meat industry.
tabling member constituency	Cambridge
tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
uin	22171
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/07/2021 answer text <p>The Home Secretary wrote to the Chair of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) on 23 October 2020 setting out the Governments response to their review of the Shortage Occupation List (SOL).</p><p>A copy of the full letter can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-to-the-mac-on-the-shortage-occupation-lists-report." target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-to-the-mac-on-the-shortage-occupation-lists-report.</a></p><p>The UK labour market is changing as a result of the global pandemic, hence general queries about the availability of labour in the UK Labour Market and recruitment issues for businesses should be directed to the Department for Work and Pensions in the first instance.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 05/07/2021 15:37:15 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner