Tony Lloyd

I can confirm that we have received the letter from my hon. Friend, the Member for Witney, Robert Courts, and 203 College Principals and I am responding to this letter. My hon. Friend, the Member for Witney, Robert Courts, and 203 College Principals shall receive their response shortly.

The licensed sponsors for all work immigration routes are listed on the Register of Licensed Sponsors: www.gov.uk/government/publications/register-of-licensed-sponsors-workers.

This is updated every day to ensure accuracy.

The government will continue to provide transparency of the Seasonal Worker visa route.

Defra and the Home Office will soon jointly publish information about the annual surveys of workers undertaken in 2020 and 2021, and information about the visa route covering these same years later in 2023.

The Home Office already publishes quarterly immigration statistics on GOV.UK, and the government published a review of the first year of the seasonal workers pilot in 2019 Seasonal workers pilot review 2019 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

The government will continue to provide transparency of the Seasonal Worker visa route.

Defra and the Home Office will soon jointly publish information about the annual surveys of workers undertaken in 2020 and 2021, and information about the visa route covering these same years later in 2023.

The Home Office already publishes quarterly immigration statistics on GOV.UK, and the government published a review of the first year of the seasonal workers pilot in 2019 Seasonal workers pilot review 2019 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

The guaranteed minimum number of hours offered by the Seasonal Worker visa operators, and how many hours they offered, is commercially sensitive data. There are no zero hour contracts.

The guaranteed minimum number of hours offered by each operator and the average working hours for seasonal migrant workers by each operator is commercially sensitive data. There are no zero-hour contracts.

The sponsor licence regime - Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors: sponsor a seasonal worker - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) - places a broad range of responsibilities on Scheme Operators to ensure that the rights of migrant workers are protected, including being responsible for ensuring workers have sufficient work, as part of their sponsorship duties.

The Government keeps these protections under close ongoing review.

The guaranteed minimum number of hours offered by each operator and the average working hours for seasonal migrant workers by each operator is commercially sensitive data. There are no zero-hour contracts.

The sponsor licence regime - Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors: sponsor a seasonal worker - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) - places a broad range of responsibilities on Scheme Operators to ensure that the rights of migrant workers are protected, including being responsible for ensuring workers have sufficient work, as part of their sponsorship duties.

The Government keeps these protections under close ongoing review.

The sponsor guidance - Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors: sponson a seasonal worker - GOV.UK - provides information for approved scheme operators in the horticultural sector on how to sponsor an overseas worker on the seasonal worker immigration route. Breaching the sponsor guidance can result in the operator losing their license.

The sponsor guidance includes an overall requirement to maintain a high standard of welfare for seasonal workers. There is the expectation that Scheme Operators maximise the work opportunities for participating seasonal workers and we will continue to monitor this situation closely. Operators can transfer workers between farms to avoid seasonal workers being left without work.

The guidance also sets out the minimum pay requirements for this route, which includes paying a minimum hourly rate, alongside satisfying relevant National Minimum Wage regulations, including those on fair rates for piece work, and holiday pay. We do not collect data on redress of pay.

The guidance also requires operators to have appropriate procedures in place for workers to report any concerns they may have.

The sponsor guidance - Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors: sponson a seasonal worker - GOV.UK - provides information for approved scheme operators in the horticultural sector on how to sponsor an overseas worker on the seasonal worker immigration route. Breaching the sponsor guidance can result in the operator losing their license.

The sponsor guidance includes an overall requirement to maintain a high standard of welfare for seasonal workers. There is the expectation that Scheme Operators maximise the work opportunities for participating seasonal workers and we will continue to monitor this situation closely. Operators can transfer workers between farms to avoid seasonal workers being left without work.

The guidance also sets out the minimum pay requirements for this route, which includes paying a minimum hourly rate, alongside satisfying relevant National Minimum Wage regulations, including those on fair rates for piece work, and holiday pay. We do not collect data on redress of pay.

The guidance also requires operators to have appropriate procedures in place for workers to report any concerns they may have.

Recruitment operators can transfer seasonal workers between farms to ensure mini-mum hours are met or if work runs out, they also have welfare measures in place to ensure workers are well cared for.

The Home Office and Defra continue to monitor the visa route closely to make sure operators and growers adhere to the stringent requirements set out in the Home Office’s Sponsor Guidance for ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the seasonal workers, including redress if workers are not paid. The operators of the Seasonal Worker visa route are licensed via a rigorous government selection process. As a minimum requirement, operators must be licensed by the Gangmasters Labour and Abuse Authority (GLAA). This makes sure that all workers are only placed with farms that adhere to all relevant legislation. Should a scheme operator lose their GLAA licencing at any point, their sponsor licence will be revoked with immediate effect.

The recruitment of new operators under the Seasonal Worker visa route is done by a Request for Information (RFI) process. This RFI process has been run three times to date, in 2018, 2021 and 2022, to coincide with the expansion of the Seasonal Workers visa route. A description of how this process was formally completed for the RFI in June 2022 can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/seasonal-worker-visa-route-request-for-information-rfi/seasonal-worker-visa-route-rfi-notice

All recruitment operators for the Seasonal Workers visa route offer a guaranteed minimum number of hours for seasonal migrant workers, with most working in excess of these hours. The usual rules prohibiting zero hours contracts continue to apply. Recruitment operators can transfer seasonal workers between farms to ensure these minimum hours are met and they also have welfare measures in place to ensure workers are well cared for.

A response was published on 14^th December 2022.

The Animal Welfare Committee’s (AWC) predecessor, the Farm Animal Welfare Council provided advice to the Government in 2003 which concluded that “the use of high concentrations of CO₂ (80% and above) to stun and kill pigs is not acceptable”; and recommended “Government and the industry should fund research and development into the use of non-aversive gas mixtures. The use of aversive gas mixtures should be phased out within five years.” The Government has supported research into the use of alternatives. This includes inert gas mixtures, where there are practical constraints which have so far restricted commercial update. The Government has also part-funded research into low atmospheric pressure stunning (LAPS), however results demonstrated that LAPS is associated with poor welfare in pigs. We continue to engage with AWC on the need for alternatives to high concentration CO₂ stunning of pigs.

We accept that there are longstanding animal welfare concerns associated with high concentration CO₂ gas stunning of pigs. Following publication in 2021 of the Post Implementation Review of the Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015 and as part of our Action Plan for Animal Welfare, we are currently considering a number of improvements that could be made. We have also met with industry to discuss alternatives to high concentration CO₂ stunning of pigs.

The Animal Welfare Committee’s (AWC) predecessor, the Farm Animal Welfare Council provided advice to the Government in 2003 which concluded that “the use of high concentrations of CO₂ (80% and above) to stun and kill pigs is not acceptable”; and recommended “Government and the industry should fund research and development into the use of non-aversive gas mixtures. The use of aversive gas mixtures should be phased out within five years.” The Government has supported research into the use of alternatives. This includes inert gas mixtures, where there are practical constraints which have so far restricted commercial update. The Government has also part-funded research into low atmospheric pressure stunning (LAPS), however results demonstrated that LAPS is associated with poor welfare in pigs. We continue to engage with AWC on the need for alternatives to high concentration CO₂ stunning of pigs.

We accept that there are longstanding animal welfare concerns associated with high concentration CO₂ gas stunning of pigs. Following publication in 2021 of the Post Implementation Review of the Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015 and as part of our Action Plan for Animal Welfare, we are currently considering a number of improvements that could be made. We have also met with industry to discuss alternatives to high concentration CO₂ stunning of pigs.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs publishes annual slaughter figures. Figures from 2017 to 2021 are available in the data sets provided here:

Latest cattle, sheep and pig slaughter statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The latest Food Standards Agency (FSA) slaughter sector survey conducted in 2022 can be found in the following publication: Results of the August 2022 FSA Survey into Slaughter Methods in England and Wales (publishing.service.gov.uk).

Defra does not hold information about Light Pollution cases investigated under the Environmental Protection Act. This information is only held at Local Authority level.

We take a broad approach to tackling all impacts on biodiversity, such as artificial light, and have indicators set out through the 25 Year Environment Plan reporting mechanisms which assess the effectiveness of this wider work towards nature recovery.

Defra has funded or co-funded national and international assessments of drivers of change on insects and wider biodiversity such as the global Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services’ (IPBES) Assessment Report on Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production. This report notes the effects of artificial light on nocturnal insects may be growing.

Defra has worked with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) to ensure that the National Planning Policy Framework is clear that policies and decisions should limit the impact of light pollution on local amenity, dark landscapes and nature conservation.

Furthermore, Defra has contributed to the development of the DLUHC Planning Policy Guidance on light pollution, published in November 2019, which emphasises the importance of getting the right light in the right place at the right time and sets out the factors that are relevant when considering the ecological impacts of lighting.

A range of measures are in place to ensure that light pollution is effectively managed through: controls in the planning system; the statutory nuisance regime; and improvements in street lighting.

We continue to work with partners including leading scientists to review the latest studies related to light pollution and ensure we continue to address key threats to biodiversity.

The Pollinator Advisory Steering Group last met formally on Friday 19 November 2021.

The date for the next quarterly meeting is not fixed yet, but we have been working closely with members of the group during the development of the Pollinator Action Plan for 2021 to 2024, which will be published soon.

The Pollinator Advisory Steering Group is intended to be a working level meeting between officials and partners in stakeholder organisations. As such, Ministers are generally not invited to join their meetings, and so attendance by a Minister would be by exception.

The last time a Defra Minister attended the Pollinator Advisory Steering Group meeting was on 9 May 2016.

Blanket bogs can act as a source or sink of carbon depending on their condition. Near natural condition blanket bogs sequester small amounts of carbon per hectare per year (0.7 to 2.8 tonnes carbon dioxide equivalents); however, the largest climate mitigation benefit of restoring blanket bog peatlands is from avoided emissions of greenhouse gases, rather than carbon sequestration, as degraded blanket bogs are more significant sources of greenhouse gases.

Research funded by Defra shows that restoring upland peat habitats can slow overland water flow leading to delayed and reduced peak discharge in small catchments. However, it remains difficult to demonstrate the benefits of peat management on flood prevention in larger catchments.