Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2023 to Question 120891 on Agriculture: Seasonal Workers, what redress is available to workers on the seasonal worker visa scheme if they are not paid; how those workers can access that payment; and how much was issued in redress for that purpose in (a) 2021 and (b) 2022.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
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.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2023 to Question 120892 on Agriculture: Seasonal Workers, what the average working hours for seasonal migrant workers are at each seasonal worker visa scheme operator.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
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.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what welfare measures seasonal worker visa scheme operators have in place for workers who are left without work.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
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.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2023 to Question 120892 on Agriculture: Seasonal Workers, what the guaranteed minimum number of hours for seasonal migrant workers offered by each seasonal worker visa scheme operator is.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
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.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will outline the process for the recruitment of new operators under the agricultural seasonal worker visa scheme.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
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
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government plans to implement measures to ensure workers on the agricultural seasonal worker visa scheme are not left without work due to the prohibition on workers switching between scheme operators.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
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.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what minimum hours guarantee is in place for workers on the agricultural seasonal worker visa; and what options are available to workers if little or no work is available.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
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.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answers of 21 November 2022 to Questions 84814 and 84816 on Pigs: Slaughterhouses, when she plans to respond to Question 84815, tabled on 11 November 2022 for answer by 16 November 2022.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A response was published on 14th December 2022.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department collects on the killing of pigs; how many pigs have been killed annually in England and Wales over the last five years; and how many pigs have been stunned and killed using high concentrations of CO2.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
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).
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department’s policy is on the long term use of high concentrations of CO2 for the slaughter of pigs.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
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.