Notes

Review of the Seasonal Worker visa accessible
Some farms did cover these additional charges and it would be worth considering whether they could be made requirements. Another important welfare consideration is the treatment of workers on the scheme whilst they are in the UK working by other workers and by their managers. Some farms had dedicated welfare officer roles, sometimes filled by other EU workers who were typically in charge of all pastoral needs.

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The SWS can impact pay and conditions, both in the occupations included on the scheme and in the wider agriculture sector. https://notes.io/w7Pze For example, the 2022 SWS required workers to be paid £10.10 per hour, 6% above the prevailing National Living Wage (NLW). The National Farmers Union (NFU) told us that this then “could not be confined to SWS workers but in practice applied to all workers across thehorticultural sector” (due to internal pay policies, the requirements of supermarket audits or simply ease), pulling up wages across the sector. However, this positive wage differential between the SWS minimum wage and the NLW (now £11.44 per hour) no longer exists. The SWT conducts visits to farms where SWS workers are employed in order to check the farms are meeting their responsibilities with regard to worker welfare, Right To Work checks, salary thresholds, relationship with ASOs, and accommodation responsibilities. The SWT reports non-compliance to the relevant ASO, who will be expected to ensure that either the farm addresses the issues or that provision of workers to the farm stops.
Chapter 1: Why do we have a Seasonal Worker Visa?
Both employers and employees said that the ability to return reduced risk to both parties and maximised both productivity and earnings as several employers demonstrated through the earnings of experienced workers. Figure 3.2 below compares the hourly pay for an individual on the SWV with the average wage for workers (UK wide) in the same occupations (who could be working in this occupation in a variety of contexts, not only seasonal work). New Zealand has a Migrant Exploitation Protection work visa which allows workers to move to another employer in cases of exploitation. If a Seasonal Worker claims asylum, they may be given leave under Section 3C of the Immigration Rules, which extends their work permission while their case is considered if the scheme operator continues to sponsor the worker.
There may be strategies that can assist farms’ domestic recruitment to some extent, for example by using domestic recruitment agencies or smoothing workload throughout the year, something that is discussed in more detail within Chapter 4. However, these strategies are more feasible for some employers to implement than others and they are unlikely to reverse the sector’s overwhelming reliance on migrant workers in seasonal jobs. As referenced in the previous government’s food strategy, being part of a global food system improves our food security by diversifying our supply sources, giving us access to products that cannot be produced domestically and allowing comparative advantage to provide us with cheaper products.

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The conclusion that can be drawn from this is that there is limited opportunity cost to ornamentals’ inclusion on the scheme and therefore, preventing ornamental producers from recruiting using the scheme would likely create no benefit. Apostilles can be provided only in the country where the document was issued, therefore you cannot apostille an original Russian document in the UK. In the UK the service is provided by the Legalisation Office which is part of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. They attach an apostille to the document after checking it and verifying that the signature, stamp or seal are genuine. The Seasonal Worker Team, part of UKVI, conduct visits to farms where Seasonal Workers are employed in order to check the farms are meeting their responsibilities. Release on temporary licence, prisoners are able to leave the prison for a short time to take part in paid or unpaid work.
The Independent Chief Inspector for Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) criticised this in the 2022 Inspection of the immigration system as it relates to the agricultural sector and recommended that the Home Office produce a document clarifying formal responsibilities for each department by July 2023. However, Defra has produced a diagram (Figure 2.4 below) that summarises some of the key organisational and enforcement relationships. Recruitment must be to specific roles, within the defined visa and cooling-off periods, and must comply with requirements on pay and hours worked. Technical and business knowledge across horticultural stakeholders varies significantly and hinders the adoption of new technologies. The skills required to develop, install, operate, and maintain the next generation of automation technologies will likely be science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) based.
In the US, under the H-2A visa classification, employers are required to provide, among other requirements, inbound and outbound transportation and subsistence, workers’ compensation insurance coverage, meals, and housing. Employers and representative bodies we have spoken to suggested that businesses did not have the capacity to pay further costs. The NFU reported to our CfE that in an internal survey 32% of responding members would consider subsiding accommodation, and 28% would consider paying visa costs if necessary to ensure continued access to Seasonal Workers.
The products of agriculture are not significantly used as inputs by other sectors in the economy. In 2021, the total intermediate consumption of the products of agriculture was the lowest of the products of any sector apart from ‘other services’ at approximately £28bn (the next lowest is real estate at £48bn whilst the highest is production at £750bn). This suggests that the produce of UK agriculture is not as connected to other sectors in the economy compared to other industries. Equally, agriculture has the lowest total intermediate consumption of any sector (uses the products of other sectors as input the least) £22bn compared to £33bn for ‘other services’ and £79bn for real estate. Whilst there are certainly challenges in increasing automation in agriculture, globally progress has been made.
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