Several employers did indicate a willingness to invest in available automation, despite high unit costs, in order to reduce demand for seasonal labour, and some farms were also involved in the research and development of these processes. Some of these did note (see Chapter 3), that while automation was augmenting labour, the technology is largely assistive and not substitutive, and so they expect to need Seasonal Workers for the foreseeable future. However, others reported that they would be reluctant to invest in automation (alongside other large-scale capital investments) without confirmation of the future of the SWS, or similar. This is in line with the Defra 2022 Automation in Horticulture review which recommended that “the length of any future schemes should ideally match the period preceding the feasible mass-adoption of automation technology”. During World War II, the United States (US) executed a bilateral treaty creating the ‘BraceroProgram’ in response to concerns of a shortage of agricultural workers. This program approved the temporary entry of “guestworkers” from poor rural areas in Mexico to participate in agricultural work.
Chapter 3: Economic and social impacts of the Seasonal Worker Scheme
Wage differentials with poorer source countries can also make seasonal agricultural work in the UK an attractive and sometimes lucrative proposition for workers from overseas. The current Seasonal Worker Scheme (SWS) began life as a pilot in 2019 and will run until at least 2029. If the SWV were to be longer than 6 months, the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), which applies to visas above this length, would also be payable. Both the House of Lords Review and the Independent Review suggest that employers should cover this for workers.
Economic impacts of the scheme: Sector
Employers and representative bodies responding to our Call for Evidence (CfE) had used the SWS to recruit a wide range of roles (views on this are discussed in more detail in Chapter 4). Ultimately, we believe that if the government intends to maintain current levels of domestic food production then there is a clear need for a SWS in the short-to-medium term. This will provide certainty to businesses who operate in a sector unusually reliant on migrant labour, given the lack of domestic workers and the seasonal and rural nature of the work.
How the scheme is organised
Translated technical documents contribute to improved safety, compliance, and user understanding, facilitating seamless communication in various technical sectors. For example, the New Zealand review on Recognised Seasonal Employers (RSE) “established that there are areas where significant fractures have developed, leading to substandard outcomes for worker wellbeing throughout the scheme”. Some migrants may also have additional risks based on personal/protected characteristics such as ethnicity, gender or health status. This suggests the ultimate impact on consumer welfare is likely to be limited, with price increases potentially small enough to keep consumers spending choices unchanged or meaning individuals will just substitute for imported goods. The UK is already highly reliant on imports to meet demand for fruit and vegetables with domestic production as a percentage of total supply approximately 17% for fruit and 55% for vegetables. Since 12 April 2023, the Immigration Rules have stated that Seasonal Workers must receive a minimum of 32 hours’ pay for each week of their stay in the UK, regardless of whether work is available.
Workers also described being threatened with deportation, or “blacklisting” from future work if they reported it, with some supervisors being described as “untouchable” and “heavy-handed” with management. Figure 3.4 shows that agriculture ranks poorly in output per hours worked compared against other industries.
- As discussed in Chapter 2, they may also be provided with basic, price- capped accommodation by the farms, resulting in lower living costs, which allow seasonal workers to save more.
- Additionally, accurate translations contribute to legal compliance, mitigate the risk of misunderstandings, and ensure that contracts and agreements are valid and enforceable across linguistic and cultural barriers.
- On the other hand, some employers said that the limited scheme length actually increased productivity as workers were incentivised to earn as much as possible in the 6- month period.
- In order to set considered and useful minimum wages or design pay structures like the US Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR), better hourly pay data across the agriculture sector would be required.
- We agree with the Independent Review that these should be in place in all key source countries and would encourage the new government to follow the same approach.
Organisations we spoke to were working to tight profit margins; NFU estimate that production costs in the horticulture industry have increased by up to 39% in January 2024 with little increase in returns from retailers. A response to our CfE suggested that implementation of an EPP on the scheme could reduce the number of Seasonal Workers that employers can afford to employ, if these costs are not shared across the supply chain. Employers and representative organisations were split between those who said the current visa length was too short, and those who felt it met their needs.
Whilst this may not be massively detrimental to the UKeconomy due to agriculture’s relatively low economic contribution, it risks harming the nation’s food security in the future – the scheme is important if existing levels of domestic food production are to be maintained. For businesses to incur costs investing in technology that will have long-term benefits they require a level of certainty that the business will remain viable when the benefits are realised. Defra’s automation in horticulture review argues that the year-to-year confirmation of the SWS has acted as a disincentive to farmers to invest in automation.
In Scotland, all NHS services (other than dental and eye care) that are free to UK citizens resident in Scotland are also free to Seasonal Workers. Following receipt of the CoS number from the scheme operator, the potential worker uses it to submit a visa application, at which point it counts towards the scheme operator’s quota. Should a CoS remain unused by the worker, scheme operators can reclaim it by withdrawing the CoS, and they will also have the CoS returned to their quota if the worker cancels it. Where ULS RusTrans or more operators has confirmed that they are unlikely to meet their full individual allocation, these places can be redistributed to other operators, although this means that the number available in theory in the overall quota may also not be available in practice.
NFU commented that “if members were not able to use the SWV at all, many would reduce production and many would move out of production completely.” This was reiterated in several CfE responses with farmers saying that they would cease to exist or be closed in a matter of months. While this would have a small impact on UK-wide GDP, it is likely to have a specific impact on rural areas. Agriculture is important for rural areas, especially in the rural uplands, accounting for around 15% of registered businesses and 8% of employment across all rural areas, which rises to 30% and 14% respectively in rural uplands areas.
Given that the SWV had been in operation for several years, in March 2023, we wrote to the then- Minister for Immigration informing him of our intention to launch an inquiry into the scheme. Under the terms of the Framework Agreement between the Home Office and the MAC we are able, alongside commissioned work from the government, to engage in work of our own choosing and to comment on the operation of any aspect of the immigration system. According to the guidance and based on our experience, translations can be legalised if they have been certified by a solicitor or notary public.g